§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will introduce legislation to implement the Oslo Convention on the Control of Marine Pollution by dumping from ships and aircraft in the North-East Atlantic.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartYes. As I have made clear, legislation to control dumping at sea will be introduced when parliamentary time permits.—[Vol. 843, c. 16–17.]
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what evidence he has that persistent substances, such as heavy metals, are accumulating in the North Sea; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartMy Department's Fisheries Research Laboratories examine seawater for the presence of heavy metals, and also fish and shellfish for these metals and other persistent substances, such as polychlorinated biphenyls 161W and organochlorine residues. Concentrations of heavy metals in seawater decrease rapidly as distance from the coast increases. In coastal areas where concentrations are highest the data show that in general there have been no significant changes in recent years. Analyses give no indication that the levels of persistent substances in fish and shellfish are increasing, but monitoring is continuing in order to keep the situation under review. The United Kingdom is co-operating with other North European countries in a study, under the auspices of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, to establish the present levels of persistent substances in fish and shellfish from the North Sea, so that these can be used as baselines for later studies.