§ Mr. Campbell-Savoursasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will examine claims that fishermen in west Cumbria are having difficulty marketing their fish following recent publicity about the level of radioactivity around Windscale; and if he will make available compensation to fishermen whose contracts for the supply of fish have been broken as a consequence.
§ Mr. MacGregorWe are aware that certain fishermen in the vicinity of Sellafield have experienced some difficulties in selling fish in the immediate aftermath of the recent publicity. The results from the extensive programme of environmental monitoring undertaken in the area by my fisheries radiobiological laboratory, including
Total EC expenditure on public and private intervention storage £ million 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 Public storage Cereals 34 39 58 122 190 212 Beef *190 250 245 282 212 182 Olive oil 3 21 15 12 28 31 Oilseeds Nil Nil — 5 -3 — Skimmed milk powder 203 453 234 13 46 76 Butter *179 295 258 234 73 58 Private storage Beef * 24 26 23 7 8 Butter * 41 51 32 46 52 Cheese† * 9 11 15 17 35 Wine 23 23 15 43 48 61 Pigmeat 5 9 17 15 12 9 Notes: * Individual figures for the cost of public and private storage in 1977 are not available for these products. The cost of public storage for beef includes expenditure on private storage aids: The cost of public storage for butter includes expenditure on private storage aids for butter and cheese. † Includes (except for 1977) expenditure on public storage, which cannot be separately identified, although major element is on private storage aids. Source: Commission FEOGA Financial Reports.
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Alternative Total EC expenditure on public and private intervention storage £ million 1979 1980 1981 1982 Public storage Cereals 44 81 112 126 Beef 70 84 67 47 Olive oil/Oilseeds 13 14 24 34 Skimmed milk powder 109 14 20 35 Butter 53 8 11 the sampling of fish and shellfish, show that the dose of radioactivity to the most exposed members of the public is within the limit recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection for the safeguarding of public health. It is most unlikely that the recent incident involving some temporary contamination of the beach close to the Sellafield pipeline will have had any effect on fish supplies in the area. However, our fisheries radiobilogical laboratory is undertaking additional monitoring of fish samples, the end results of which will be made available as soon as it is known.
It would not be appropriate for us to pay compensation.