§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what recent representations he has received from Greenpeace and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society on the dangers to small cetaceans.
§ Mr. CurryI met representatives of these organisations together with other members of Wildlife Link on 4 July and discussed our mutual concern about the dangers to small cetaceans from high seas drift nets.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what investigations have been carried out in each of the past 10 years of the numbers of cetaceans that have been caught by drift nets in the waters of(a) Britain and (b) other EEC countries.
§ Mr. CurryReliable historical information on the number of incidental by-catches by EC vessels is not available. However, following a United Kingdom initiative the North sea states have agreed a co-operative framework for the conservation of small cetaceans, including a commitment to develop schemes to monitor incidental catches more closely. In addition, the United Kingdom is supporting an EC proposal to ban drift nets above 2.2 km in length, to guard against their possible indiscriminate operation.