§ Mr. Hoyleasked the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has as to the number of incidents in each of the last 25 years in which fishing vessels suffered damage, either to the vessel itself or to equipment, and where subsequent inquiries suggested that the damage may have resulted from the action of submarines; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. David MitchellInformation about the type of damage sustained by fishing vessels or their gear is not stored in the Department's casualty statistical data and could be extracted from such detailed records as now exist only with disproportionate staff effort and cost. The statistics published annually by the Department mentioned unusual causes of loss but there is no reference to any fishing vessel loss in this period which resulted from the action of submarines.