§ 4. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is yet in a position to make a statement on the Report of the meeting of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, held in Copenhagen from 21st October to 2nd November, 1955, when about seventy papers dealing with fisheries research were under consideration; if he will place a copy of the Report in the Library; and what action he proposes to take upon it.
The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. D. Heathcoat Amory)The International Council has not yet published this Report, a copy of which I shall place in the Library when available. The discussions covered the recent work of member countries in the field of fishery research and greatly assist the programming of future work.
§ Mr. HughesDoes the Minister realise that these reports and the work of this Council are of the utmost interest to the fishing industry, and deserve the widest possible publicity, and that not to give it defeats one of the purposes for which the Council was founded?
Mr. AmoryI hope that the Report will receive the widest possible publicity, but, as the hon. and learned Gentleman knows, of course, these reports are scientific and very technical, and are not, perhaps, suitable for consumption by the ordinary man in the street. They are, however, of the very greatest value, and I hope they will receive the widest possible circulation in the quarters for which they are intended.