§ Mr. Dormandasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of grant aid to fish 401W farming has been paid to the small-scale fish farmer; and to which companies, respectively, in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. MacGregorI shall reply to the hon. Member as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Dormandasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the amount of Government funding of research and development into fish farming in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr.MacGregorExpenditure figures on research and development on fish farming are not readily available for the period before 1976–77. The following table sets out the figures for expenditure by the Fisheries Departments on a basis of full economic costs.
£'000 1976–77 1,455 1977–78 1,617 1978–79 1,854 1979–80 2,078 1980–81 2,383 1981–82 2,640 1982–83 *2,502 1983–84 *2,539 * Estimated.
§ Mr. Dormandasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he is satisfied with the results of fish farming in relation to the amount of grant aid paid; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacGregorDuring the past 10 years fish farming production in Great Britain has increased approximately tenfold. In relation to the amounts of grant paid, this is a satisfactory performance by the industry.