§ LORD DERWENTMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
The Question was as follows:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in view of the decrease in numbers of lobsters on the East and North-East Coasts, they will consider reintroducing legislation to forbid the landing and sale of berried lobsters.
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, an urgent survey into the East Coast lobster stocks is now in progress to determine the causes of the decrease in numbers. We are most concerned at the decline, which is affecting the whole of Europe, but it would be inappropriate to consider specific remedies until the cause is diagnosed.
§ LORD DERWENTMy Lords, I thank my noble friend for that fairly satisfactory Answer. Can he tell me when Parliament is likely to have a report from the committee?
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, the survey was started in April of this year. It is a two-year survey conducted by the Ministry's Shell Fish Laboratory at Burnham-on-Crouch, and it is expected that a preliminary assessment will be made in the autumn.
§ LORD BLYTONMy Lords, berried lobsters are generally scrubbed and then put into the London market. In view of the reducing shellfish stocks in the North-East, does the noble Earl not think it is time that there was an order made prohibiting this practice?
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, my right honourable friend has power to make an order, but at the moment it is considered that the shortage of lobsters is due to what happens from the time when the egg is laid to the time when it grows into a lobster, as opposed to the fact that not enough eggs are being laid.
§ LORD CHAMPIONMy Lords, would the noble Lord be kind enough to tell us what are berried lobsters?
EARL FERRERSMy Lords, I asked the same question because I thought it was like a Chinese egg that had been buried in the sand. In fact it is a lobster that has eggs upon it—in other words, a female lobster.