§ Mr. Grayasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what estimates he has made of the quantity of fish, by weight and value, caught for industrial purposes within the proposed 200 mile limit around Scotland in each of the past five years; what proportion of the catch was of customarily edible species; and to which nations the catch is attributable.
§ Mr. William Ross:The information requested on other countries' industrial fishing catches is not available. Fishing for industrial purposes by Scottish vessels is a small proportion of the total Scottish catching effort and is restricted principally to fishing for species which are unsuitable for human consumption or for which there is a very limited human consumption market.
§ Mr. Grayasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the total catch, by weight and value, in each of the past five years, of white fish and of herring, of the Scottish inshore fleet and the Scottish deep water fleet, respectively.
§ Mr. William Ross:The statistics, which distinguish between vessels under 330W 80 ft. and vessels of 80 ft. and over, are as follows:
1970 Weight Value 000 cwts. £000 1.White Fish (a) vessels under 80 feet 3,402 11,340 (b) vessels 80 feet and over 1,869 7,783 2.Herring (a) vessels under 80 feet 1,848 2,887 (b) vessels 80 feet and over 24 43 1971 Weight Value 000 cwts. £000 1.White Fish (a) vessels under 80 feet 3,561 14,527 (b) vessels 80 feet and over 2,036 10,702 2.Herring (a) vessels under 80 feet 2,093 3,395 (b) vessels 80 feet and over 1 2 1972 Weight Value 000 cwts. £000 1.White Fish (a) vessels under 80 feet 4,078 20,600 (b) vessels 80 feet and over 2,058 12,926 2.Herring (a) vessels under 80 feet 2,252 4,014 (b) vessels 80 feet and over 59 105 1973 Weight Value 000 cwts. £000 1.White Fish (a) vessels under 80 feet 4,921 30,030 (b) vessels 80 feet and over 1,586 14,287 2.Herring (a) vessels under 80 feet 2,754 8,354 (b) vessels 80 feet and over 107 273 1974* Weight Value 000 cwts. £000 1.White Fish (a) vessels under 80 feet 3,855 30,851 (b) vessels 80 feet and over 1,410 15,043 2.Herring (a) vessels under 80 feet 2,454 11,463 (b) vessels 80 feet and over 96 375 *The figures for landings in 1974 are provisional and the allocation of the herring landings between boats under and over 80 feet is an estimate. These figures relate to total landings in Scotland by Scottish vessels.
§ Mr. Grayasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what quantities, by weight and value, of the main species of fish were 331W caught by fishing vessels based on Scotland in the area around Scotland which would fall within the proposed 200-mile fishing limit in each of the past five years.
§ Mr. William Ross:An international system of zones of 200 miles would necessarily mean some zones determined by median lines where zones impinged. This would apply, for example, to the United Kingdom zone in the North Sea. Statistics have not been collected on the basis of the zones which might result from a new system of 200 mile limits, but it has been estimated that for 1972 the landings of white fish and herring from a 200 miles zone, including median lines where applicable, were as follows:
Total Scottish Estimated Proportion of Total Catch caught in Zones Landings 0–6 miles. 6–12 miles. 12–50 miles. 50–200 miles. 000 cwts Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. White Fish … … 4,792 30 21 22 11 Herring … … 2,615 87 7 5 * * The estimated catch in this is less than 1 per cent. These estimates take account of the fact that in certain areas median lines would be in operation.