§ 66. Mr. Hector Hughesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he is aware that the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, which recently ended its annual meeting in Copenhagen at which the British Government was represented, expressed concern about the overfishing of the North Sea and the view that fishing there should be limited and rationalised; and if he will make a statement on the subjects considered and conclusions reached by that meeting.
§ Mr. GodberThe recommendations to which the hon. and learned Member refers are presumably those relating to the herring fisheries. They were to the effect that the attention of countries fishing the southern North Sea should be drawn to the concern and apprehension of the Council at the state of the herring stocks; that adequate statistics of catches and of the fleets employed in the fishing should be provided by these countries; and that Governments should co-operate in a coordinated scientific programme designed to assess the various factors affecting the yield from the herring fisheries. Her Majesty's Government have readily agreed to participate in that programme which the Council is now preparing.