Fishing Industry (Hansard, 13 October 1976)

§ 4. Mr. Sproat
asked the Secretary of State for Scotland when he next plans to meet representatives of the fishing industry.

§ The Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Hugh D. Brown)
My right hon. Friend and I are meeting representatives of the industry later this afternoon and tomorrow.

§ Mr. Sproat
Is the hon. Gentleman aware that the industry regards his proposals on limits as totally inadequate and spineless? Will he tell the fishing industry this afternoon that when his right hon. Friend goes to Brussels he will stick out for a 50-mile limit, no less, and that if he does not get it we shall apply a direct or an indirect veto?

§ Mr. Brown
My right hon. Friend has already made the Government's position clear. A 50-mile exclusive limit or, indeed, a 50-mile protected zone, whatever that means—that was the phrase used by the right hon. Member for Sidcup (Mr. Heath)—would mean that our fishermen would be fishing in the plains of Normandy or the bogs of Donegal. I wish that the Conservative Party would get off this simplistic 50-mile exclusive zone all round the United Kingdom.

§ Mr. Welsh
Is the hon. Gentleman aware of the anger and frustration felt by Scottish fishermen at the financial and other implications of the Government's new safety regulations, as was shown at a meeting recently held at Arbroath? Will he ensure that his English ministerial colleague fulfils his promise of a review of these regulations after they have been in operation for one year?

§ Mr. Brown
I should prefer it if the hon. Gentleman would write giving me the details of what was said at the meeting to which he referred. We have assured the fishing industry that we will deal with the question of safety in as sympathetic a way as possible.

§ Mr. Robert Hughes
Will my hon. Friend give an assurance that there will be no reduction in standards in the safety regulations for fishing vessels sailing from any British port, since the lives and safety of those who go to sea are of first importance and are to be considered as more important than the cost of such regulations? Will he also give the latest figures regarding the viability of the Scottish fishing fleets?

§ Mr. Brown
I assure my hon. Friend that there will be no reduction in the safety requirements for the fishing industry. Earnings of white fish trawlers over 80 ft. in the first eight months of 1976 were 28 per cent. up on 1975. Average earnings per day at sea were 48 per cent. up on 1975. The earnings of the industry as a whole were 42 per cent. up on 1975. [HON. MEMBERS: "Answer the question."] I am answering the question that was put to me. All I can say in the short term is that the industry is in a healthy state.

§ Mr. Fairbairn
Appreciating as I do that the Under-Secretary of State, as a Socialist, is entitled to speak with authority about hell, may I ask why he sold his negotiating pass by announcing to those with whom we have to negotiate that we had not a hope in hell of getting what we were looking for?

§ Mr. Brown
That is too sophisticated for me. I suggest that it is high time that Tory leaders injected a degree of realism and showed some courage and honesty in facing the difficult negotiations that lie ahead of us.