§ Mr. Dormandasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of grant aid to fish farming has been paid to the small scale fish farmer; and to which companies, respectively, in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. MacGregor[pursuant to his reply, 26 July 1983, c. 403]: The information available to me does not differentiate between small scale and other fish farmers.
Grant aid is available to fish farmers from a number of sources, including the Agriculture and Fisheries Departments, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Welsh Development Agency, the Highlands and Islands Development Board and the European Community. Information about grant aid paid which is readily available to me is for the agriculture and horticulture development scheme—and its predecessor, the farm and horticulture development scheme—of the Agriculture Departments, as follows:
Year Grant Paid (£) to fish farmers in Great Britain 1975 3,118 1976 659 1977 867 1978 — 1979 977 1980 117,673 1981 499,841 1982 49,348 1983 (to date) (not available) (1) No aid was paid prior to 1975.
(2) For commercial reasons it has not been the practice to give details of individual beneficiaries of grant aid under this scheme.
683WAwards of grant by the European Commission under EC regulation No. 355/77 — for the improvement of conditions under which agricultural products are processed and marketed—EC regulation No. 1852/78—an interim common measure for restructuring the inshore fishing industry and aquaculture—are as follows:
Awards (£) to fish farmers in Great Britain Year EC Reg. No. 355/77 EC Reg. No. 1852/78 1979 — 47,642 1980 — 151,512 1981 — 293,798 1982 99,601 (not available)(5) 1983 (to date) 116,890 (not applicable)(5) (1) No aid was awarded prior to 1979.
(2) Payments may be made in years subsequent to the award.
(3) Additional payments, of 8 per cent. of project costs for EC regulation No. 355/77 and a minimum of 5 per cent. of project costs for EC regulation No. 1852/78, will be made from national funds as these projects are completed and the awards are paid from FEOGA.
(4) Information about recipients of awards is not readily available in the form requested.
(5) EC regulation No. 1852/78 has been most recently extended by EC regulation No. 31/83. This extends the interim common measure to applications received in 1982. The European Commission is expected to announce its decisions on these awards very shortly.