§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his letter, reference 81869, of 7 November 1994, to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, what discussions he is having with the North West Atlantic Fisheries Organisation Scientific Council on the moratorium for the fishing for capelin(a) off east Greenland and (b) on the Grand banks; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. JackThere is a moratorium on the fishery for capelin on the Grand banks for 1995. The Scientific Council of the North West Atlantic Fisheries Organisation will make its recommendations for the 1996 total allowable catch to the annual meeting of NAFO in September 1995, at which the United Kingdom will be represented within the EU delegation.
The NAFO Scientific Council does not give advice on the capelin stock at East Greenland, Iceland and Jan Mayen. This is provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea and management decisions are taken jointly by the Greenlandic, Icelandic and Norwegian authorities. The ICES advice in May 1994 was for a TAC for 1994–1995 of 1,430,000 tonnes.