§ Mrs. Winifred Ewingasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give an estimate of the total number of fishing vessels in Scotland, port by port, in the next five years; and what has been the number in each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. William RossAs there are 200 fishing creeks or ports in Scotland I am sending the hon. Member extracts from by Department's annual publication 143W "Scottish Sea Fisheries Statistical Tables" showing the number of fishing vessels for each of the 10 years from 1964 to 1973. It is not possible to estimate what the figures may be in the next five years, port by port, as these will depend upon commercial decisions taken by the fishermen themselves. There is, however, no reason at present to expect any major change in the general pattern.