§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the research projects on the effect of pollution on seals, and on the links between pollution and seal health; if he will give the spending on each; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Virginia Bottomley[holding answer 18 July 1989]: Within the past year, the Department of the Environment has commissioned three new research projects which examine the impact of contamination on seals, including possible effects on immuno-competence, as part of its North sea research programme with values in 1988–89 as follows:
- contaminant effects monitoring using seals (£10,000)
- possible links between environmental pollutants and seal disease (£35,000); and
- thymulin in seals (£10,000).
The Department is also commissioning further work on contaminants and the marine food chain which will cost over £450,000 this year.
Other relevant aspects of seal research including monitoring, analysis of contaminants and diet are contained in the research programmes of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and the sea mammal research unit of the Natural Environment Research Council.