§ 2.40 p.m.
§ The Earl of KIMBERLEYMy 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 what progress has been made on quotas in the Council of Fisheries Ministers in the renegotiation of the Common Fisheries Policy.
Earl FERRERSMy Lords, there has been no substantive discussion of quota allocations since the Commission last tabled proposals in January 1978. However, as my right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food explained in another place on 29th January, the issue is likely to be placed on the agenda of the next Fisheries Council.
§ The Earl of KIMBERLEYMy Lords, while thanking my noble friend for that Answer, may I ask him whether he is aware that off Falmouth presently there are still 20 foreign factory ships, which 1145 are going to be joined shortly by some Danish ships, and that they are still processing mackerel because the closure for fishing applies only to the British and not to the Irish, the Dutch and the Danes, who have not yet exhausted their EEC catch quota? Secondly, is he aware that, with the ever-decreasing stocks of mackerel, even large trawlers are finding it uneconomic, and that next year may well prove disastrous to the fishing industry if some control is not exercised forthwith?
Earl FERRERSMy Lords, I think there are two points in my noble friend's supplementary question. The first is with regard to the factory ships. I would merely point out to him that they are not of course catching fish; they are processing fish caught by other people—and the factory ships represent an important market for our own fisheries catch. The second point to which my noble friend draws attention is of course the urgency for getting a Common Fisheries Policy. It is perfectly true that we have stopped fishing because our quota has been caught and that other members of the Community have not ceased fishing because their quota has not yet been caught. The total allowable catch is of course agreed by the Commission. What are not agreed are the quotas between members, as to how that catch should be made up, and that is what we wish to see agreed.
§ Lord BALFOUR of INCHRYEMy Lords, may I ask my noble friend this question: Will the Minister give an assurance that when North Sea quotas come to be considered the Atlantic salmon has some representation—it has been entirely neglected so far by those considering quotas—particularly as of the nine EEC countries, only three produce any salmon and the other six are avid consumers and will therefore need a lot of persuading in order to agree to preservation measures?
Earl FERRERSMy Lords, I shall certainly see that my right honourable friend, who is responsible for discussing this in the Community, takes note of my noble friend's point. All I would tell him is that I in fact have here a list of different catches, total allowance catches, and they run to four or five pages of different types of fish and different types of areas. It is a very complicated process.
§ Lord LOVATMy Lords, would the Minister reassure the House that the mackerel catches off the South-West coast of England are not in many cases being ground into fishmeal because of the unnecessary destruction of immature fish?