§ Sir W. EDGEasked the Minister of Agriculture if his attention has been called to the proposal to close down the operations of the Fleetwood fishing steamers on the ground that prices have ceased to be remunerative; whether, during the past week, the average selling price was 1d. per lb. while the cost of catching the fish was 3d.; and whether he has any information showing the average retail prices to the public during this period?
§ Sir R. SANDERSI am aware that a few days ago the question of laying up a proportion of the vessels fishing from Fleetwood on the ground that their working was unremunerative was considered at a meeting of Fleetwood fishing vessel owners and managers. With regard to the second part, according to the returns collected by the Ministry, the average price of fish landed at Fleetwood in the week ending 30th June was 2.02d. per lb. I have no means of calculating the actual cost of catching this fish. With regard to the third part of the question, I regret that I have no information showing the average retail prices to the public during that week.