§ 5. Mr. Ridleyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the progress he has made with regard to the problem of the netting of salmon off the coast of Greenland.
§ Mr. HoyI would refer the hon. Member to the answer which my hon. Friend gave to the hon. Member for Gainsborough (Mr. Kimball) on Wednesday, 12th June.—[Vol. 766, c. 44–5.]
§ Mr. RidleyWill the hon. Gentleman try to convene a conference of interested nations in accordance with the plan put forward by Greenland, so that discussions can start to try to find a solution to this difficult problem?
§ Mr. HoyI assure the hon. Gentleman that we realise the seriousness of this, but we have just had a conference at which we played a major part, as a result of which an important motion was carried which now formally recognises the serious concern which not only we but others feel, and it has recommended that member Governments should consider action to prevent an increase in the fishing and urge them to give high priority to research. This was done with tremendous support from this country.
§ Mr. StodartCan the hon. Gentleman confirm that, in 1965, two boats caught 10,000 salmon off Greenland and that, last year, 11 boats caught 100,000 salmon, and that, therefore, this is becoming a very grave problem?
§ Mr. HoyI do not dissent from those figures, although I do not know olfhand. I know that the arrival of the first two boats encouraged others. That is why we acted so quickly, the one country which did react so quickly to all this, and we can take a little pride in the fact that it was as a result of the work of our members at this conference that we got approval to go such a long way.