§ 28. Mr. Awberyasked the Minister of Food the value and quantity of fish which has been sent for processing into cattle food and manure during the past 12 months.
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeIn the 12 months ended June this year some 25,000 tons of condemned or unsold white fish were converted into animal feedingstuffs. Information about the value of this fish is not readily available. In the same period some 42,000 tons of herring, of the value of about £500,000, were converted into oil and meal.
I have no specific information about the quantities of fish used for manure.
§ Mr. AwberyIs the right hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that a considerable amount could be saved if the price of fish were reduced so that the housewife could purchase more instead of it having to be used for manure?
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeWe shall find out more about that when the investigation is completed. I would point out that some of the fairly high figures are due to the exceptional hot weather we had earlier this year.
§ Mr. DoddsCan the right hon. and gallant Gentleman say when the investigation is likely to be completed? Many housewives are anxious to know.
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeAs soon as I know I will let the hon. Gentleman know. The investigation is being carried out by the White Fish Authority.
31. Air Commodore Harveyasked the Minister of Food what quantities of fish were sold for fish meal at Hull and Grimsby during the months of May and June.
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeAt Hull some 4,300 tons in May and 2,700 tons in June. At Grimsby some 2,200 tons in May and 860 tons in June.
Air Commodore HarveyDoes my right hon. and gallant Friend realise that this position has been brought about mainly because of the landings of the 20 Icelandic trawlers which belong to the very country which is preventing our own men earning a living along the Iceland coast? Does he intend to do anything about it?
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeThe figures for the two ports to which I have referred do not bear out my hon. and gallant Friend's supplementary question, because the percentage on those figures is one-tenth of 1 per cent.
32. Air Commodore Harveyasked the Minister of Food what quantity of fish was landed by the German trawler "Martin Mewers" at Aberdeen on approximately 4th July; and what proportion of the catch was sold for fish meal.
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeSome 260 tons, of which 135 tons went to the fish meal works.
Air Commodore HarveyDoes my right hon. and gallant Friend think it makes sense that a foreign trawler should bring fish here to be used for manure? Will he try to arrange for foreign vessels to bring their catches here when they are most required, which is in the winter season, instead of just dumping their catches in the summer?
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeMy hon. and gallant Friend will be aware that an international conference has been considering this, and, at our request, is setting up machinery to see how we can regulate this sort of thing as between different countries.
§ Sir D. RobertsonCan my right hon. and gallant Friend say why such a huge quantity of British-caught fish has been used for fish meal at a time when our people are short of food?
§ Major Lloyd GeorgeThat is one of the things to be investigated. As to the figures for herrings, a reason for the very great increase was that the weather was exceptionally hot.
§ Sir D. RobertsonThe question has nothing to do with herrings but everything to do with white fish, which comes under the control of the White Fish Authority. Are my right hon. and gallant Friend and his colleagues satisfied that the Authority is doing its job?