§ Mr. Cyril D. TownsendTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what recent representations he has received from the international fund for animal welfare.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyWe have received cards from members of the public responding to an appeal by the international fund for animal welfare to express concern about the marine environment on an international basis. We recognise that many people are genuinely concerned about the health of our seas and the marine life that they support. Organisations such as IFAW can also play a valuable role in supporting on a voluntary basis conservation and research work on marine species such as seals. That is why I met it today to discuss their campaign.
As the recent seal virus has shown, it is simplistic and wrong to imagine that every change in the marine environment including the death or decline of a particular species is brought about by the impact of human activities, whether through the discharge of wastes or otherwise.
The Government are strongly committed to protecting and improving the quality of the marine environment and where there are good grounds for concern, scientifically supported, we have been ready to act. The precautionary measures, adopted at the North sea conference hosted in London last year by my right hon. Friend, to reduce inputs of dangerous substances to rivers and estuaries, and to phase out dumping and incineration of industrial waste at sea are illustrations of this. On 31 October my hon. Friend announced additional protection measures for seals and on 31 December new restrictions will come into force on the dumping of plastic garbage including nets from ships, one of the issues on which IFAW have campaigned strongly.