Part of 1. Questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:47 pm on 14 February 2018.
And I suppose the elephant in the room for most people is the extent of river pollution. I know that this is a much bigger issue than just in relation to fish stocks. We've had many a debate here about proposals for nitrate vulnerable zones and so on, but although nobody denies that there is a problem with pollution, it is being addressed by voluntary action, to a great extent. We've drawn attention in the past to the schemes that exist in Pembrokeshire that have been very successful. Pollution does kill far more salmon and sea trout each year than the proposals, which NRW have put forward, for controls on exploitation by nets and fishermen of salmon and sea trout would save, and so this is a problem that should be viewed in the round rather than ascribed to one cause over another. So, I hope that, when she considers NRW's proposals, she will introduce a sense of proportion into the proposals, which they have put on the table. Because there's a feeling that, in Wales, NRW is proposing something that is far more draconian than will be applied in England, in particular. Therefore, going back to what we were talking about earlier on, in Simon Thomas's question, of discussions with your counterpart in England on agricultural issues, we do need to inform ourselves in Wales of the position in other parts of the United Kingdom and the proposals for improvement, which other Ministers are bringing in. We mustn't disadvantage fishermen in Wales in particular unnecessarily.