§ 43. Mr. Wolrige-Gordonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is satisfied that the British fishing industry will produce enough fish to feed the population of Great Britain by the 1980s; and if he will make a statemen.
§ Mr. HoyThe proportion of our fish supplies that will be home-produced at any time will depend on a variety of factors, including the fishing effort, yields, costs and prices in this country and elsewhere. These factors are kept under review. We foresee little change in the short-term, but we cannot speculate about the more distant future.
§ Mr. Wolrige-GordonIs the hon. Gentleman aware that in spite of being an island nation with a great seafaring tradition, we are now 12th in the world league table of fish producing nations? Is not there a real need to give the fishing industry a target or aim, even a selective expansion programme, to enable it to stretch its capacity and resources and play a far more important part in the future of our economy?
§ Mr. HoyWe have given fairly generous support to the fishing industry by way of grants, subsidies and so on, and if it is any consolation to the hon. Gentleman, he might be interested to know that in 1966 the British catch was 935,000 tons, the highest for 10 years.
§ Mr. McNamaraEven if my hon. Friend cannot speculate about the future, would he care to speculate on the effect on the British fishing industry of our joining the E.E.C.?
§ Mr. Hector HughesDoes not my hon. Friend realise that within the next few years, certainly by 1980, fish supplies will be greatly depleted unless the fishery protection squadrons are greatly strengthened, both on the sea and in the air, and will he take steps to do this?
§ Mr. HoyThat question is also rather wide of the main Question, but I assure my hon. and learned Friend that we have, of course, taken all these matters into consideration. Occasionally international agreements are broken, but, on the whole, they are working reasonably well.