§ 33. Mr. Robert HicksTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has any plans to improve the fishing opportunities currently available to south-west England fishermen; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonI am very much aware of the difficulties faced by fishermen in the south-west of England. At the Fisheries Council on 21 June we secured an important amendment to restrictions on beam length that will greatly assist our inshore beam fleet, and we secured a commitment from the Commission to review urgently the 1989 total allowable catch for Channel cod and other precautionary TACs. I have already taken steps to deal with the problem of quota hopping.