§ 6. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Minister of Technology if he will seek powers to establish a body to exploit the resources of seaweed in the North Sea by harvesting it and converting it into textile fibres and transparent package foil.
§ Mr. MarshNo, Sir; I understand that enough work has been done in this field to enable commercial firms to assess 219 for themselves the economic prospects of exploiting seaweed for these purposes.
§ Mr. HughesIs my hon. Friend not aware that the constructive suggestion contained in my Question has been adopted by other Northern countries with great success and that it is particularly suitable for Britain, with its shallow shelf in the seas around Britain, in order to increase textile production, reduce unemployment and increase exports?
§ Mr. MarshI appreciate that this is a very valuable commodity. Since taking this job I have learned that one can eat it, wear it and grow roses in it. However, I am advised that textile yarns derived from seaweed have a limited application and, therefore, a limited market and that package foil derived from seaweed is not competitive in comparison with that from trees via cellulose.