asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether the preliminary work for surveying the fisheries of the Mauritius-Seychelles area has now been completed; and whether the survey work has commenced.

Mr. Creech Jones:

All the necessary work preliminary to the survey has now been completed, and I hope that the survey vessel will be ready to proceed to Mauritius shortly. Work on the vessel has been held up by the restrictions on the use of electrical power.