HC Deb 19 December 1975 vol 902 cc885-6W
Mr. Wigley

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether, in current international negotiations on fishery limits, he has put forward a case based on the principle of a 200-mile economic zone.

Mr. Ennals

The only international negotiations on fishery limits in which Her Majesty's Government are at present engaged are at the United Nations Law of the Sea Conference. At the Conference the Government have supported, as part of a generally acceptable Convention, proposals for a 200-mile exclusive economic zone, within which the coastal state would have sovereign rights concerning fisheries, subject to an acceptable regime within the zone and presser- vation of other high seas freedoms, in particular of navigation, over-flight and communication within the zone. The Government have opposed unilateral extensions of fisheries limits in advance of the outcome of the Conference.

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