HC Deb 22 January 1990 vol 165 c572W
Mr. Fearn

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has made an assessment of the reason for the deaths within the last 12 months of seals in the Liverpool bay area.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

I have been asked to reply.

An assessment carried out by Liverpool university department of veterinary pathology on the basis of post-mortem examinations shows that viral or bacterial pneumonia was the commonest cause of death in seals washed ashore in this period.

Mr. Fearn

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what species of cetaceans are known to inhabit the Liverpool bay area; whether any species previously logged within the last 25 years are now thought to have disappeared from the area; and if he will provide any readily accessible information to indicate changes in estimated population levels of all species of cetaceans in the Liverpool bay area over the past 25 years.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

I have been asked to reply.

In United Kingdom waters generally there is as yet no reliable population and status information on small cetacean species although valuable data are available from sightings and strandings reporting schemes. Recent reports do not suggest that cetaceans are resident in Liverpool bay, but migratory animals are reported. In the last five years Liverpool university department of veterinary pathology has examined stranded animals from the following species:

  • Pilot whale
  • Bottle-nosed dolphin
  • White-beaked dolphin
  • White-sided dolphin
  • Common porpoise

Mr. Fearn

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether dead seals from the Liverpool bay area within the last 12 months showed evidence of blocked uterine ducts.

Mr. Heathcoat-Amory

I have been asked to reply.

I understand that work carried out by Liverpool university department of veterinary pathology indicates that two out of a total of 12 dead seals washed ashore in the Liverpool bay in the last 12 months have been found to have blocked uterine ducts. There is no evidence that this contributed to the animals' death.