§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the phrase,
loss of catch potential in third country waters,in the text of the declaration on the common fisheries policy refers to the actual loss of catches made in the past in Icelandic, Norwegian, Russian and Faroese waters; and, if so, whether he will publish the relative shares of catches made by Great Britain, France, Germany and Denmark in the period which he considers most relevant to the British case.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithThere is as yet no agreed view in the Community of how losses of catch potential in third country waters might best be expressed for the purpose of calculating the allocation of catch quotas between member States. However, in the view of Her Majesty's Government the figures for catches in the waters of the countries concerned—(which are not limited to those mentioned by the hon. Member)—over the past 10 years or so are highly relevant. I will provide the statistics requested by the hon. Member as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food by what date an agreement on a common fisheries policy would need to be reached to be put into effect on 1 January 1981; and when he expects to conclude such an agreement.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithSome elements of a revised common fisheries policy could probably be implemented imme-302W diately overall agreement were reached, while others might necessitate detailed regulations and could therefore take rather longer to be given full effect. It remains the policy of Her Majesty's Government to reach agreement on all elements as soon as possible.