Sea Fish Industry Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 1:24 am on 14 May 1980.

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Photo of Mr Roy Mason Mr Roy Mason , Barnsley 1:24, 14 May 1980

It is not my intention to refer to the many speeches that have been made in the debate, but I think that my hon. Friend the Member for Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell) has been unfairly attacked. He had a perfect right to express himself as forcefully as he did. Grimsby is his constituency, and Grimsby is a port. Fishermen are his constituents, they are suffering, and the situation is getting worse. Conservative Members have recognised that.

The reason why we have so many Tory Members sitting in on this debate in the early morning is that they are concerned, too. They know that if the situation deteriorates further their voices will be raised in anger against their Minister.

Legal opinion has shown that the White Fish Authority did not have the powers to impose the levies on fish caught and trans-shipped at sea. This issue had been highlighted because of the experience off the South-West Coast over large amounts of mackerel that were caught in our coastal waters and then trans-shipped to the foreign factory vessels. In other words, the mackerel has not been landed on shore. It may not have mattered, and did not become an issue until these vast mackerel catches were trans-shipped from the South-West.

Apart from the argument about the future of the White Fish Authority, which was also part of the debate in the Standing Committee on Statutory Instruments, and the possibility of higher levels, the trans-shipment loophole needs blocking. If that is done effectively, it will provide the WFA with between £250,000 and £400,000 extra revenue, depending on the methods used to detect and police transshipment. The House recognises that the Select Committee on Scottish Affairs and the Standing Committee on Statutory Instruments urgently recommended such action. The Bill has our blessings, and we shall facilitate it through all its stages.

Regarding grants and loans, most of which are administered by the WFA, the Government will be aware that the situation in the fishing industry has worsened. On 13 March the Minister made a statement on financial aid to the industry. The £2 million for producers' organisations is seen in retrospect to have been of little value, especially when compared with the increased grants given to our competitors. The French fishing fleet has just been given £5 million to modernise its vessels to exploit new fishing grounds. We are receiving reports that the German fishing industry is being given up to £14½ million for the year 1980–81.

The £2 million for the ports, viewed on the basis of the share out, has had little impact. The port in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Grimsby received an amount sufficient only to run the port for about a month.

The industry has two major concerns. The first is that an agreement on a common fisheries policy within the EEC is being further delayed. It is essential that the Government should once again consider urgently further grants to keep the industry alive. The industry is afraid that resolution of policy on the CFP is again slipping in time. A Fisheries Council meeting is planned for 27 May. That is one more meeting before the summit in Venice on 12 June. It is essential that the CFP is dealt with on its merits. There must be no trade off with fishing policy in an overall budget deal. The French will fight hard, and the Dutch, Germans and Danes will back them, if the negotiations prove tough and we persist in trying to get a better deal for our fishermen.

The Minister must be aware that the entire industry and all hon. Members representing fishing constituencies will not stand for compromise on preferential access in a 50-mile zone and exclusive access in a 12-mile belt. We all believe that those objectives are worth fighting for. We are worried that the timetable is slipping, and that more aid will be required.

The other main concern for the industry and the WFA is the constantly rising imports of cheap fish. In the first three months of this year we imported 100,000 tons of fish, which is a 53 per cent. increase over the same period in 1979. About 70 per cent. of the white fish on our tables in Britain is caught by foreigners and dumped in Britain. About 40 per cent. of that is cod, our traditional fish dish. That is a startling example of how our own deep sea trawlers are being barred from our traditional fishing grounds. More and more of them are being laid up. The industry, port by port, is being ruined. We just cannot allow that to continue.

All the organisations in the industry are banding together and presenting a storm of protest to the Government. Urgent demands are being made for a halt to the flood of cheap fish imports. The industry is demanding a doubling of the withdrawal and reference prices and it wants the Government to impose duties of at least 15 per cent. on imports of fish from third countries and to take measures to effect a cutback on fish imports to the 1978 levels.

Unless there is a substantial increase in quayside prices to stop or to neutralise the artificially low prices of imported fish caught by Common Market vessels, most of which are receiving official grants in excess of ours and subsidies, including fuel subsidies, our fishing industry will not survive the common fisheries policy negotiations.

I hope, therefore that these matters are receiving serious Government attention and that the Minister will give some assurances to the industry that the Government do not intend to waver or weaken in the common fisheries policy talks and that further financial aid will be forthcoming to keep the fishing fleets alive until our policy objectives have been achieved.