§ Baroness HORNSBY-SMITHasked Her Majesty's Government:
In view of the fact that the EEC is asking Member States to report their fishing catches, whether these returns take into account the massive direct sales from trawlers selling their catches direct to foreign factory ships and bypassing the docks where the quantities of landed fish are properly recorded.
Earl FERRERSThe EEC has not yet agreed on the details of the proposed catch reporting arrangements; and the United Kingdom has made clear that its agreement to such arrangements is conditional on a satisfactory agreement on total allowable catches (TACs). I would expect that any EEC catch reporting arrangements would, like the present United Kingdom system, cover transhipments as well as landings.