§ Mr. Masonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the legislative powers he has used to force trout farm owners to slaughter whirling disease infested stock; if he will estimate the number of fish which have been slaughtered; and if he will now take powers to compensate fish farmers for their losses.
§ Mr. Buchanan-SmithNo powers have been used by my Department to force producers of trout to slaughter whirling disease-infected stock. Programmes involving the clearance of stock from infected fish farms and disinfection have been undertaken in response to commercial judgments following the imposition of movement restrictions. I understand that five fish farmers have so far decided to pursue such a policy involving some 600,000 fish. Compensation from public funds would not be appropriate in such cases.