HC Deb 31 January 1957 vol 563 cc207-8W
65. Mr. Hector Hughes

asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food to state the subjects discussed and conclusions reached at the meetings held by him in London in October, 1956, with representatives of the British fishing industry relating to the Icelandic fisheries dispute with the British fishing industry; and if he will now disclose his relevant plans for the future of the British fishing industry.

Mr. Godber

The purpose of these talks was to assist by exchanges of views in finding a solution to the dispute, the settlement of which was eventually reached on 14th November last and announced to the House the following day. The problems of the fisheries which underlay this dispute will fall for consideration at the forthcoming world conference on the law of the sea. As the Joint Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs informed the hon. and learned Member on 28th January, it is proposed that the Secretary-General of the United Nations should convene this conference, at which Her Majesty's Government will be represented, in Rome in March, 1958.