Common Fisheries Policy
Debate between Lord Benyon and Gregg McClymont(13 years, 5 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Richard Benyon
That is not really on the subject and is slightly above my pay grade, but I agree that the common fisheries policy has been an unmitigated disaster.
Gregg McClymont (Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East) (Lab)
The European Commission’s proposals will ban the discard of quota fish only, but many discards are non-quota, as the Minister will be aware. Do the Government propose a total ban on discards or not?
Richard Benyon
We want to work with the industry to achieve an end to discards, which means looking at the whole range of species that are discarded. I was on a trawler last week watching perfectly edible fish being thrown into the sea. I know what an affront that is to us, and the great British public are outraged by it. We have to make sure that we follow this up and do not simply follow the letter of the document. The good work being done by DEFRA and partners in our Fishing for the Markets project and other schemes really makes a difference. I think we can get there.