§ Mr. David Priceasked the Minister of Overseas Development what steps she is taking to promote development trails to prove techniques for commercial fish farming under tropical conditions as a contribution to helping under-developed countries in the tropics to become more self-sufficient in their food supplies.
§ Mrs. HartI fully recognise the contribution which improved fish farming techniques can make towards self-sufficiency in food supplies in the developing countries, and my Ministry is active in this field, with particular reference to marine and fresh water prawns, the carp species, mullets and other fish that might be suitable for fish farming in tropical conditions. At present my Ministry is supporting, with the provision of expert 375W advice and training, 11 fish farming projects—in some cases in conjunction with other schemes of rural development—in Africa, South America, the West Indies, South-East Asia and the Pacific; and I hope that three other projects now under discussion for Jordan, Bangladesh and India will be undertaken in the near future. In addition, my Ministry is financing research in Bahrain and in Mexico and at Stirling University which is designed, in the longer term, to improve these techniques.