§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what studies have been undertaken by his Department into the levels of(a) mercury pollution, (b) plutonium pollution and (c) polychlorinated biphenyl pollution in the Irish sea and their uptake by fish, dolphins and molluscs living in the region.
§ Mr. CurryThe results of the Department's monitoring of non-radioactive and radioactive contaminants, including mercury, plutonium and polychlorinated biphenyls, in fish and molluscs are regularly published in the aquatic environment monitoring reports (AEMR), copies of which are available in the Library of the House. AEMR No. 26, due to be published shortly, will describe work undertaken in 1988 and 1989. In addition to results on contaminants in fish and shellfish, it will contain a section summarising work on contaminants in marine mammals, including dolphins.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment has been made by his Department of the biogenic sulphur loading in the atmosphere arising from emissions from nutrient-enriched plankton in the North sea.
§ Mr. CurryDimethyl sulfide is believed to arise in surface water from the natural biochemistry of certain346W species of marine algae. We do not monitor specifically for sulfide loading. However, we have an annual nutrient monitoring programme in the North sea, and there is no evidence for enhanced algal production from nutrients of manmade origin in the open North sea.