§ Mr. Buckasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the present state of stocks of sole and plaice in the North Sea and in other waters utilized by British fishermen for catches of these varieties of fish; and if he will make a statement on this and on the forthcoming meeting of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission.
§ Mr. BuchanSole stocks in the North Sea are heavily over-exploited, and other stocks of sole and all stocks of plaice round our coasts are being fished at about their maximum sustainable level. The Government will therefore be pressing for limitation of catch of these fish by international quota agreement at the meeting of the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission later this month.