§ Mr. Laurance Reedasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what studies his Department has made of the effects of offshore gravel dredging on coastal erosion and on the spawning grounds of sea fisheries.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartStudies relating to coastal erosion fall as appropriate to my right hon. Friends the Secretary of 303W State for Trade and Industry and the Secretary of State for Education and Science.
My Department's scientists have made preliminary studies of the effects of dredging upon fisheries and this work continues. My Department recommends to the Crown Estate Commissioners that dredging should not be allowed on the spawning grounds of fish such as the herring, which attach their eggs to the sea bed.