§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if, in view of the disquiet in the fishing industry due to imports of foreign fish into British ports which are sold at prices far below what can be obtained by British fishermen, he will take steps to reduce these imports by granting proper quotas to the British fishing industry, whose level of income has fallen while costs have continued to rise.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThe weekly catch quotas are imposed for certain stocks to ensure the United Kingdom catch does not exceed a reasonable share of the recommended TAC. These quotas are set at levels which strike as fair a balance as possible between the sectors of the catching industry concerned. The
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TOTAL IMPORTS OF FISH BY VARIETY (Fresh, chilld and frozen) January-June 1977 1978 1979 tonnes £1,000 tonnes £1,000 tonnes £1,000 Frozen fillets Coated with batter or bread-crumbs … … … 1,398 2,181 1,844 3,058 851 1,340 Cod … … … … 35,012 39,309 46,566 53,790 26,454 30,089 Haddock … … … 4,000 4,579 6,856 7,937 4,263 5,221 Saithe … … … … 771 464 1,867 1,201 1,186 785 Plaice … … … … 1,221 1,487 1,275 1,719 637 884 Hake … … … … 4,852 2,846 3,570 2,126 2,276 1,172 Other … … … … 2,620 2,139 4,004 2,949 948 763 Other frozen fish Cod … … … … 10,366 5,301 8,931 4,671 4,885 3,043 Haddock … … … 753 414 791 392 613 399 Saithe … … … … 464 161 776 233 151 44 Plaice … … … … 574 295 967 442 443 251 Herring … … … 1,604 681 6,167 2,839 3,056 1,546 Salmon … … … 3,107 6,943 4,457 10,408 1,733 3,740 Mackerel … … … 135 31 188 39 218 69 Hake … … … … 4,630 1,606 3,700 1,501 2,034 715 Other … … … … 7,017 5,639 9,533 7,137 4,650 3,463 Fresh (including chilled) Cod … … … … 16,273 7,709 43,253 20,886 31,050 15,981 Haddock … … … 1,060 489 5,349 2,788 5,313 2,878 Sathie … … … … 2,239 606 2,908 746 1,264 394 Plaice … … … … 12,106 5,338 15,961 8,626 8,418 4,471 Herring … … … 963 314 2,877 1,158 1,293 503 Marckerel … … … 621 67 822 127 1,422 158 Salmon … … … 164 620 313 1,079 241 1,033 Trout … … … … 179 260 159 231 103 156 Other … … … … 7,578 5,432 9,976 6,831 7,480 3,861 Total, fresh, chilled and frozen … 119,697 94,911 183,100 142,914 110,983 83,139 quota levels are not related to the level of imports.
§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list all the imports of fish into the United Kingdom in the years 1977, 1978 and 1979; into which ports the fish were landed; from what country the fish was imported; and what price was obtained for each species landed.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThe figures requested are given in the tables below. The main ports involved in this trade during the period January 1977 to June 1979 were:
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Tyne London Hull (inc. Tilbury) Immingham Dover Grimsby Southampton Great Yarmouth Liverpool Harwich Aberdeen
IMPORTS OF FISH BY COUNTRY YEAR: 1977 Country Frozen fillets Fresh chilled and other frozen tonnes £1,000 tonnes £1,000 EEC Belgium-Luxembourg … … 96 91 3,180 1,586 Denmark … … … … 2,840 3,947 8,099 5,007 France … … … … 722 737 6,671 2,556 West Germany … … … 2,002 2,029 2,006 1,039 Irish Republic … … … 283 252 4,567 4,747 Netherlands … … … 1,056 1,082 21,153 11,203 Italy … … … … 28 32 531 303 Total … … … … … 7,027 8,170 46,207 26,441 EFTA Iceland … … … … 5,176 5,357 1,316 779 Norway … … … … 29,240 33,133 4,682 2,954 Other … … … … 56 47 1,294 382 Total … … … … … 34,472 38,537 7,292 4,115 Other countries Faroe Islands … … … 2,234 2,523 887 422 Canada … … … … 664 333 2,066 2,302 Republic of South Africa (including South West Africa) … 229 146 2,693 854 Japan … … … … 63 50 669 1,156 Poland … … … … 90 32 870 327 USA … … … … 25 21 2,000 2,905 Other … … … … 5,060 3,193 7,149 3,384 Total … … … … … 8,365 6,298 16,334 11,350 All countries total … … … 49,864 53,005 69,833 41,906 496W497W
IMPORTS OF FISH BY COUNTRY YEAR: 1978 Country Frozen fillets Other frozen fish Fresh and chilled tonnes £1,000 tonnes £1,000 tonnes £1,000 EEC Belgium-Luxembourg … 106 120 51 97 7,628 4,303 Denmark … … … 4,621 6,473 2,712 2,416 11,949 6,603 France … … … 530 522 743 439 6,032 2,231 West Germany … … 3,377 3,616 1,884 986 2,602 1,169 Irish Republic … … 207 194 866 2,056 6,655 4,187 Netherlands … … … 758 847 1,025 1,385 29,567 15,843 Italy … … … … 16 13 672 400 28 29 Total … … … … 9,615 11,785 7,953 7,779 64,461 34,365 EFTA Faroe Islands … … 2,614 3,153 522 345 964 454 Iceland … … … 10,156 11,214 3,676 2,110 12,210 5,612 Norway … … … 37,227 42,584 4,545 3,001 2,802 1,151 Other … … … … 55 59 1,300 332 177 42 Total … … … … 50,052 57,010 10,044 5,788 16,153 7,259 Other countries Canada … … … 2,881 1,925 6,032 4,213 785 441 Republic of South Africa (including South West Africa) … … … 119 72 1,425 420 — — Japan … … … … 8 10 333 420 * 5 Poland … … … — — 853 171 — — USA … … … … 43 43 3,021 5,626 27 49 Other … … … … 3,254 1,935 5,849 3,194 192 353 Total … … … … 6,305 3,985 17,513 14,095 1,004 848 All countries total … … 65,972 72,780 35,510 27,662 81,618 42,472 * indicates less than 500kg.
IMPORTS OF FISH BY COUNTRY YEAR: JANUARY-JUNE 1979 Country Frozen fillets Other frozen fish Fresh and chilled tonnes £1,000 tonnes £1,000 tonnes £1,000 EEC Belgium-Luxembourg … * * 30 39 3,936 2,266 Denmark … … … 3,363 4,170 2,335 2,103 11,625 5,278 France … … … 1,490 1,485 238 171 3,618 1,423 West Germany … … 1,568 1,717 833 426 988 430 Irish Republic … … 97 85 506 291 4,658 2,831 Netherlands … … … 539 668 841 602 18,396 10,250 Italy … … … … 2 2 187 139 90 82 Total … … … … 7,059 8,127 4,970 3,771 43,311 22,560 EFTA Iceland … … … 5,985 6,777 1,959 1,031 9,354 4,481 Norway … … … 18,914 21,755 2,489 1,654 2,796 1,732 Other … … … … 14 18 234 200 88 35 Total … … … … 24,913 28,550 4,682 2,885 12,238 6,248 Other countries Faroe Islands … … 1,226 1,648 183 101 503 228 Canada … … … 1,179 778 2,868 2,506 100 40 Republic of South Africa (including South West Africa) … … … 38 30 909 302 — — Japan … … … … 9 8 159 204 1 16 Poland … … … — — 337 120 282 64 USA … … … … — — 1,250 2,202 30 37 Other … … … … 2,154 1,093 2,425 1,359 119 242 Total … … … … 4,463 3,577 8,131 6,794 1,035 627 All countries total … … 36,615 40,254 17,783 13,450 56,584 29,435 * Indicates less than 500kg or £500.
IMPORTS OF FISH: AVERAGE PRICE £/TONNE January-June 1977 1978 1979 Frozen fish (other than fillets) Cod … … … … … … 511 523 623 Haddock … … … … … 550 496 651 Saithe … … … … … … 347 300 291 Plaice … … … … … … 514 457 567 Herring … … … … … 425 460 506 Salmon … … … … … 2,235 2,335 2,158 Mackerel … … … … … 230 207 317 Hake … … … … … … 347 406 352 Fresh (including chilled) Cod … … … … … … 474 483 515 Haddock … … … … … 461 521 542 Saithe … … … … … … 271 257 312 Plaice … … … … … … 441 540 531 Herring … … … … … 326 403 389 Mackerel … … … … … 108 155 111 Salmon … … … … … 3,780 3,447 4,286 Trout … … … … … … 1,453 1,453 1,515
§ Mr. McQuarrieasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will bring forward proposals to reduce the level of fish imports, in view of the rising operating costs and declining revenue affecting the United Kingdom fishing fleet.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithWe are in close contact with representatives of the fishing industry about many matters affecting the
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