§ Mr. Macleanasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the Commission's recent proposals to increase the total allowable catches for 1984 for sole in the English channel have yet been adopted.
§ Mr. MacGregorI am glad to report that the Commission's proposals to increase the TACs for sole in the English Channel have now been formally adopted by the Council. At our request the figure for western Channel (VIIe) sole was increased by a further 50 tonnes beyond that proposed by the Commission. The UK quotas for western and eastern (VIId) Channel sole will therefore both be increased by 80 tonnes. These increases should on present information mean that there will be no closure of these fisheries in 1984.