Written question asked by Chris Ruane (Labour) on Tuesday, 18 November 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 20 November 2003. It was answered by Elliot Morley (Labour) on Thursday, 20 November 2003 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will make a statement on the programme of continuous plankton recording around the British Isles.

Answer: Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will make a statement on the programme of continuous plankton recording around the British Isles. [140364] Mr. Morley: A Continuous Plankton Recorder is a device which is towed by a ship of opportunity and can take a larger number of samples of particulate matter such as larger planktonic species from the water through which it passes. The international marine environmental charity `Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science' (SAHFOS), which is based in Plymouth, currently operates the Continuous Plankton Recorder survey. This survey has been in operation since 1931 and provides one of the longest and largest marine biological data sets in the world. More than 70 years of information on the density of over 450 plankton types is contained in the database. Plankton samples have been collected from all over the North Atlantic but predominantly (some 200,000 samples) from waters around the British Isles.

Secondary information