§ Lord Pearson of Rannochasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Answer by the Lord Pricy Seal on 16 December (HL Deb, cols. 477–478), whether they believe that the British fishing industry would have "serious problems" (HL Deb, col. 465, paragraph 6) 219WA if the United Kingdom had retained control of her fish, amounting to 75 per cent of the fish which swam in European Economic Community waters, instead of ceding control of them to the common fisheries policy. [HL800]
§ Lord WhittyIt is impossible to say what decisions successive UK governments might have taken over the last 20 to 30 years if there had been no common fisheries policy and what impact these decisions would have had. However, we cannot claim that 75 per cent of stocks were our fish. The UK historically only controlled its territorial waters and many UK fishermen took their catches in international waters.