asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why he does not recommend the imposition of a ban on the import into the United Kingdom of produce derived from whales, dolphins or porpoises, and whether, in the interests of the conservation of these species, he will review the matter.
Since March 1973 there has been a ban on the import of whale products with the exception of sperm whale oil, spermaceti wax, ambergris, products incorporated abroad into manufactured goods and certain minor whale products. The sperm whale is not endangered, and there is, therefore, no justification on conservation grounds for a ban on sperm whale oil and the other sperm whale products. I would also remind the hon. Members of the unemployment likely to result from such a ban. Trade in the minor whale products is insignificant.There is also little trade in products derived from dolphins or porpoises, apart from very limited imports of the skin of the beluga whale, which in fact is a dolphin. If there were evidence that any small cetaceans were in danger of being over-exploited we would certainly consider what steps might be taken to help the recovery of such stocks, though the contribution which a United Kingdom import ban could make is clearly limited.