asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the total area of the fishing zone which could have been proclaimed for the Gilbert Islands colony if base points on the Northern Line Islands and on the Phoenix Islands had been used.

The total area of the Gilbert Islands' fishing zone would have been about 3½ million square kilometres if the base points on the Northern Line Islands and Phoenix Islands had been used.

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in view of the paucity of natural resources available to the Gilbert Islands colony, what were the special reasons for not including all parts of the colony as base points for the purpose of determining its fishing zone.

Not all parts of the territory were included, pending discussions with the United States Government about their claims to certain islands.