§ 35. Mr. Wallasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the latest position with regard to the Anglo/German/Icelandic fisheries dispute and its effect on the fishing industry.
§ Mr. Anthony StodartMy hon. Friend will be aware from the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary's statement in the House on 7th March that he has sent a message to the Icelandic Foreign Minister urging him to set a date for the resumption of negotiations. No date has yet been set but we are hopeful that a relatively early resumption will be possible.
It has been made abundantly clear that continuing harassment is an impediment to negotiations. Several warps were cut yesterday when vessels were fishing outside the designated fishing areas pro- 384W tected by the tugs. Previous to this the tugs have been successful in limiting the effectiveness of the gunboats.