Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 203: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources if he has considered implementing a catch and release fishing policy on the Grand Canal; if he has received any reports of netting and night lining on the canal; the level of inspection carried out; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8965/05]

Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Primary responsibility for the management of canals rests with Waterways Ireland, which is a North-South implementation body established under the British-Irish Agreement Acts, and operates under the aegis of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. While I understand that Waterways Ireland and the Central Fisheries Board work together to promote angling along the canals in Ireland, the Eastern Regional Fisheries Board is contracted by Waterways Ireland, under the Canals Act 1986, to look after the fisheries on the Grand Canal. This is an operational matter for the regional fisheries board and is not something over which I, as Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, have any control.