§ Mr. Hal Millerasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he has taken any steps to find alternative sources of fish other than cod which would be suitable for making into fish fingers and similar food products, in view of the likely interruption in cod supplies.
§ Mr. BishopI would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for North Fylde (Mr. Clegg) on 11th December.—[Vol. 902, cols. 630–631.]
§ Mr. Hal Millerasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether 594W he has held any discussion with Iceland about assuring supplies of cod to the British housewife and the cost price of Icelandic landings as compared with those from British trawlers.
§ Mr. BishopOne of the main purposes of the recent talks with Iceland has been to ensure that adequate supplies of cod at reasonable prices will be available to the British housewife.
§ Mr. Hal Millerasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what limits have been agreed, on scientific advice, to be necessary on cod fishing off Iceland in presently international waters to preserve cod stocks; and what relationship they bear to the last annual catch of cod there by Icelandic, British, West German trawlers and those of other nations, listed separately.
§ Mr. BishopThere is no internationally agreed limitation. However, British scientists consider that the total allowable catch for the Icelandic cod stock could be set at a figure around 300,000 tonnes for 1976. According to the latest available information, catches of cod in 1974 in waters around Iceland were as follows:
Country Tonnes Belgium 1,100 Faroes 12,100 France 200 West Germany 5,600 Iceland 238,300 Norway 200 United Kingdom 117,500 TOTAL 375,000