asked the Minister for Fisheries and Forestry the total amount of herring caught by the European Community countries in 1979 under the bye-catch rule and the tonnage caught by each country.

Bye-catches of herring are not recorded separately by EEC member countries but such catches are included in the total recorded herring catches.

Surely the Minister must agree that there is something wrong where EEC fishermen have been allowed to have a 5 per cent bye-catch and the Minister now says that there is no recording of the actual number of herrings? The Irish fishermen are sticking to the rules but the others are not.

This is argument. It is giving information rather than seeking it.

The question is open to misinterpretation. The Deputy possibly has in mind bye-catches of fish in the Celtic Sea or zone 6A. Bye-catches are not recorded separately but are included in the total catch. They could be legal catches, bye-catches or illegal catches. Some member states do not submit details of these catches. I have figures supplied by members of the ICES working groups for 1979 and figures for the Celtic Sea for 1978. If they would be useful to the Deputy I will have them sent to him.

9.