§ Mr. David EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many trawlers were registered in(a) 1995 and (b) 1979. [21611]
§ Mr. NorrisI have asked the chief executive of the Marine Safety Agency to write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from R. M. Bradley to Mr. David Evans, dated 28 March 1996:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your Question about the number of trawlers registered in (a) 1995 and (b) 1979.The register of fishing vessels is not categorised by type. The total number of fishing vessels on the register at 31 December 1995, however was 8670.Before April 1989, registration was the responsibility of HM Customs and Excise (C&E). The C&E records were transferred to the Registry of Shipping and Seamen. I regret that extracting the information relating to fishing vessels from the earlier records for a particular year could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.