§ Sir Cranley OnslowTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his latest estimate of the annual consumption of seafish by seals in United Kingdom waters, expressed as a proportion of the total catch by British fishing vessels in the same waters over the same period. [8178]
§ Mr. BaldryThe estimated number of grey seals associated with breeding sites in the United Kingdom waters in 1995 was 115,000. The Ministry does not have comparable figures of common seals, but the present population is estimated to be 28,000. Scientific work indicates that a seal can eat between 1.4 and 1.8 tonnes of fish each year. Current seal numbers may thus have accounted for between 200,000 and 260,000 tonnes of fish. It is not possible to draw a direct comparison with landings from the United Kingdom fleet, since seals mostly eat species which are not consumed by humans.