§ Sir Bernard Braineasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what countries are currently engaged in fishing in the existing 150 mile protection zone of the Falkland Islands; and whether he has any information as to the estimated quantities and value of the total catch in 1984 and in 1985 to the latest convenient date.
§ Mr. RentonFishing and support vessels observed in the Falkland Islands protection zone in recent months were registered in Poland, the Soviet Union, Spain, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, the German Democratic Republic, Bulgaria and Liberia. The latest estimates available to us suggest that the fish catch within the protection zone was roughly 185,000 tonnes in 1984 and 75,000 tonnes in 1985, up to mid-June. The precise composition of the catch is not known, and values are subject to market fluctuations. It is not therefore possible to make any meaningful estimate of the total value of the catch.