§ Lord KENNETMy 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 they have studied the new Commission proposals for a fishery régime set out in COM(78)39 and in what respects, if any, given the latest reasonably satisfactory European Community suggestions for the repartition of quotas, the proposals still fail to meet the needs of the various parts of the British fishing industry; and whether they will make a Statement.
§ Lord STRABOLGIMy Lords, the proposals set out in Document COM(78)39 concern the operation of fishing plans and restrictions on access to fishing grounds in waters under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of Member States. My noble friend refers to the quota proposals as being "reasonably satisfactory". They are indeed a considerable improvement on earlier Commission proposals, which were quite unacceptable. In the view of Her Majesty's Government, however, they need further improvement. The Commission's proposals on conservation are also unsatisfactory, and their proposals on access preferences fail to meet the Government's essential requirements.
§ Lord KENNETMy Lords, may I thank the noble Lord for that full and helpful Answer? Will he confirm that the Council of Ministers' Meeting on Fisheries held this morning has already ended because the Commission thought that further discussion of their present proposals would not be useful and they would prefer to pursue the matter bilaterally with Member States for the moment? If he can confirm this, will he say whether this 1432 is good news or bad news, and whether it is leading us closer to an agreement or further away?
§ Lord STRABOLGIMy Lords, I can confirm that the meeting finished at 12.30 p.m. today. With regard to its details and what was concluded, I think that I must ask my noble friend to await any possible Statement that may be made by my right honourable friend in another place which will, of course, be repeated in this House if your Lordships so wish.
§ Lord JACQUESMy Lords, may I ask why the new quotas are not satisfactory?
§ Lord STRABOLGIMy Lords, in the original Question my noble friend Lord Kennet referred to these latest quota proposals as "reasonably satisfactory". The Government have stated that these proposals form a basis for negotiation, but adjustments will be needed before they are satisfactory. For example, when the proposed 1978 allocations are compared to Member States' average catches from 1973 to 1976, the United Kingdom bears the heaviesteconomic loss—half of the total Community loss of demersal fish such as cod and haddock. Our total allocation of fish is made to look reasonable—I think this may have taken in my noble friend Lord Kennet—by the inclusion of large quantities of lower value pelagic fish: for example, 100,000 tons of hitherto unexploited horse mackerel.
§ Lord KENNETMy Lords, would the noble Lord withdraw any suggestion that I may have been taken in by a horse mackerel? I accept that I have never heard of it before. In fact I had not noticed this, but the proposals were not so far from being reasonable.
§ Lord STRABOLGIMy Lords, I accept at once of course that my noble friend was not taken in by a horse mackerel. On the other hand, he may not have got further than the totals, and it is always wise to look at the species involved as well.