Mr. John Home Roberstonasked the Secretary of State for Industry (1) how many boatyards have no further orders on their books for new fishing vessels when boats which are at present under construction are completed in Scotland and the rest of Great Britain respectively;
- (2) how many fishing boat builders he expects to go out of business during the next 6 months; and how many redundancies will be created in this sector;
- (3) if he is satisfied that the fishing boat building industry will be capable of handling the backlog of work which has arisen as a result of the protracted delay in processing White Fish Authority grant applications;
- (4) how many fishing boats are at present under construction in yards in Scotland and in the rest of Great Britain;
- (5) how many firm orders for new fishing boats remain to be supplied when boats which are at present under construction are completed.
§ Mr. Michael MarshallTen fishing vessels of 100 gross registered tons and over are under construction in Scotland and six in the rest of Great Britain. There are no firm orders for this size of vessel after these are completed. I have no information about smaller vessels.
The Government have made no forecast of future orders for fishing vessels or the number of builders who may go out of business. They are, however, concerned at the decline in orders for fishing vessels in the United Kingdom and are anxious to end quickly the present uncertainty 142W about future support to the fishing industry. Builders of larger vessels, those of over about 150 tons, are eligible to apply for Intervention Fund Support.