FISH CONTROL. (Hansard, 25 June 1941)

§ THE MINISTER OF FOOD (LORD WOOLTON)

My Lords, I am grateful for the opportunity of making this statement and I think it proper that I should inform the House of the steps I propose to take to control the activities of the fish industry. Your Lordships will be aware that the Admiralty has requisitioned some 75 per cent. of the trawlers usually engaged in this trade, in order that they may sweep the seas for mines. The effect of this action has been to reduce the supplies of fish coming in to our ports to about 25 per cent. of the normal prewar volume of the trade and consequently to make fish in great demand. As a result, the prices of fish have risen disproportionately and have long constituted a source of legitimate complaint by those sections of the public who either were financially unable to pay those prices or who, from proper patriotic motives, considered it an unsocial act to do so.

512 Your Lordships may know that there have been in the past two attempts to control this trade. One was in the last war, and one was made, after many months of preparation, at the beginning of this war. It is widely considered that the former attempt was not a success. The latter came to disaster and was withdrawn in a very short time. The Ministry of Food has been faced with many other problems, urgently requiring the attention of the staff. I sought the assistance of the trade some months ago, and asked them to put their house in order and to put themselves right with public opinion. My negotiations with the trade have been long and they have been patiently conducted with its many branches and ramifications. I have now received proposals regarding what they consider to be the proper prices for the public to pay. I reject these proposals. When I invited the trade to put its house in order, I did not invite it to perpetuate extravagant prices which I am told have met with the stern disapproval of many who value the good name of their trade.

I am glad to say that a number of gentlemen, acknowledged in the trade as men of proved capacity, have placed their services and their advice at the disposal of my Ministry, and I have been singularly fortunate in securing the help of Mr. John Adamson, a gentleman distinguished both as an accountant and for his knowledge and advice on problems of business reconstruction. He has undertaken, with this body of practical men—with whom the representative of the trade union has associated himself—to produce a scheme of reorganisation of the fish trade which will, on the one hand, give to those engaged in it a proper reward for their labours, and, on the other hand, endeavour to give to the public fish at prices commensurate with the dangers and the risk attendant on this industry in war-time. It is one thing to produce a scheme: it is another to make it work, and those who are associated with Mr. Adamson have urged upon me the importance of taking action in two stages. I shall, therefore, under the powers conferred upon me by Parliament, issue an Order controlling the prices of fish from June 30, and this Order will remain in force during the interval until the complete plan is ready for action. The Order 513 will control the prices of fish at the quay and in the shops and at all intermediate "stages, so that it will no longer be profitable to speculate in fish after it has been landed. The average price of landed fish under this Order will be 9s. Iod. per stone, as compared with the price of 13s. 6d. which was ruling last month, and on the average retail prices will be proportionately reduced.

It will be within the knowledge of the House that it is a custom of the British fishing industry for the crews of trawlers to be paid on a profit-sharing basis. These men who seek our food in dangerous waters must be adequately rewarded for the risks that they run. In the fishing industry, two types of people take risks but these risks are entirely different in character. There are the men who go down to the sea in ships and sail daily and nightly among the mines their risk remains and must be rewarded. There are the others who control the industry from the comparative security of the land. They take the commercial risk, which indeed is considerable in peace-time but in war-time is greatly reduced. In commercial practice, the cost of labour and the cost and profit on management both go to fix the price of goods to the consumer. But there is no reason why the profits of the owners should be automatically increased by the fact that under war conditions an additional inducement has to be given to the crew. I have, therefore, decided to include in the Order a provision requiring that whenever the first-hand price reaches the maximum, one shilling a stone shall be reserved exclusively for the crew. By this means we shall secure that the remuneration of the fishermen will be on the same basis as if I had accepted the level of maximum prices which were recommended by the Trade Committee.

I am, of course, fully aware of the difficulties of securing a proper distribution of any article under price control. Distribution of fish will take place, at all ports where it is possible, under the control of an Allocation Committee, but in order to secure that there shall be a fair distribution to places removed from the ports of landing and that this distribution shall, as far as possible, be in the same proportions as in normal times, I have arranged that a flat rate of carriage 514 shall operate all over the country. This arrangement will be extended to herrings as well as to white fish. I believe that these preliminary steps will do much to help in the task that we have in front of us. I am assured of influential support for these proposals, and I trust that I may have the support of the public. Nothing that I can do will increase the amount of fish available. The public must not, therefore, expect anything more than a reasonable price, and reasonable distribution, as a result of these efforts. But it is as well to recognise at once the limits of such a scheme. For example, there are unfortunately those people who will always find ways to break the law or evade an Order. I hope the trade and the public will support me in bringing such people to the bar of justice, where I believe they will meet with proper punishment. This preliminary plan will be succeeded, I hope, in September—and early in September—by a complete plan worked out by trade experts.

I am aware that any plan for reorganising a trade whose turnover is reduced by 75 per cent. must involve hardships on individuals in that trade. There are many such trades among those with which the Ministry of Food has had to deal, and they have recognised the facts and accepted the principle that in war-time the country cannot afford to carry, at the cost of the consumer, people who are prevented from rendering services. We shall, therefore, restrict the handling of fish to traders licensed to do so, and licensed on the strict understanding that their licence only runs whilst they adhere to the conditions laid down and whilst they observe the law.

I commend the steps I am taking to the judgment of your Lordships' House. I will report the complete plan subsequently to the House, if your Lordships are in session when the time arrives. In spite of the discouragement of precedents, I am determined to bring this issue to a proper end. The resources of the Government in this matter are indeed considerable, and I am much encouraged by the resolute and determined help I am receiving from some members of the trade itself, and from the trade union.