§ Mr. Matthew TaylorTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what surveys have been conducted by his Department to establish the incidence of(a) dab, (b) flounder, (c) cod, (d) herring and (e) plaice caught in water around Britain which show evidence of disease.
§ Mr. CurrySince 1980 my Department, together with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland, has conducted both annual and ad hoc surveys to establish the prevalence rates of diseases in commercial fish species, including dab, flounder, plaice, cod and herring in water around Britain.
My Department has played a key role in establishing standardised sampling and disease recording methods with other European countries and collaborates with these countries in fish disease survey programmes.