§ Mr. Onslowasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what action his Department has taken under the Import of Live Fish (England and Wales) Act 1980 to prevent the import of American signal crayfish;
(2) what action he is taking following the observations in the 11th report of the Nature Conservancy Council on the spread of crayfish plague in British waters; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. JoplingUnfortunately, the considerable practical difficulties involved in combating a disease which attacks wild fish in their natural environment mean that efforts now to eradicate crayfish plague would almost certainly be unsuccessful. Moreover, the necessary restrictions on all imports of live crayfish, including those for the table, and controls on their movement throughout England and Wales would be highly disruptive to trade and expensive to enforce. For these reasons we have not taken any action to control imports of signal crayfish or to restrict or monitor their movements in this country.
§ Mr. Onslowasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why his Department has continued to provide support from public funds for an organisation which markets American signal crayfish in view of the health record of imports of such fish.
§ Mr. JoplingIn 1981 the Government contributed towards the cost of a feasibility study into the co-operative marketing of crayfish matured in this country. The grant was made under the agricultural and horticultural cooperation scheme which was then administered by the Central Council for Agricultural and Horticultural Cooperation (now Food from Britain). As a result, the British Crayfish Marketing Association was established and in 1982 it received a very small grant towards its formation costs. My Department has made no further payments to the BCMA.