§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, further to his answer to the hon. Member for South Shields of 7 July, if he will list the recommendations put forward by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany and agreed at the end of the symposium held on 23 and 24 June to consider the growth of algal bloom in the North and Baltic seas; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MoynihanThe purpose of the meeting held at Bonn on 23–24 June to discuss algal blooms and seal deaths and hosted by the Federal Republic of Germany was to facilitate an exchange of scientific views between those participating principally through the exchange of scientific papers. Recommendations were drawn up by the meeting's rapporteur, but were not put to the vote and, as far as I am aware, no formal record of the meeting or recommendations has been circulated.
I understand that the principal recommendations put forward were on the following lines: nutrient inputs to 124W coastal areas should be reduced, with particular reference to large river systems; contaminant inputs to the sea should be reduced by 50 per cent. and the reduction of nutrients to a similar extent should be expedited where a detrimental effect can be established; marine research should be accelerated and studies undertaken in to reducing marine inputs of phosphorous and nitrogen through various pathways; airborne emissions of nitrogen should be reduced; agricultural practices and river protection systems should be examined with a view to reducing inputs to the sea from agriculture.
In the context of the sea areas affected by algal blooms which were considered by the symposium, these recommendations reflect the ministerial declaration issued after the second North sea conference, on whose implementation the United Kingdom has taken an early lead.