Common Fisheries Policy

Debate between Lord Benyon and William Bain

Monday 17th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Richard Benyon]

My hon. Friend raises a very good point about regionalisation—and one that detained us a long time as we tried to find a solution. Under the Commission’s original text, which could have had a centralising effect, if the countries around a sea basin—the North sea, for example—failed to agree, the power to decide on the technical measures would have been taken by the Commission. We thought that that was wrong, so we developed—under the leadership of my Department, I have to say—an idea that found its way into the text. Under this provision, a measure becomes law where there is agreement among all the countries fishing a particular sea basin, and where they cannot agree, the matter is determined by co-decision. That is a much better way forward. Throughout these discussions, I have always said, “I would never start from here”. We are trying to improve something that is very, very wrong. We are going to make it halfway right, however, and there is still much more work to do.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

Can the Minister explain how the small-scale fishing fleet in Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom will benefit from the adoption of this deal by the EU and by national Parliaments?

[Richard Benyon]

Things will improve on the wider scale because the commitment to maximum sustainable yield, fishing sustainably and more sensible management will lead to increased biomass in the sea, so there will be more fish for the small-scale fishing fleet to catch. However, the one thing I find as I go round the coast—the hon. Gentleman will know about this from when he was the shadow spokesman—is how remote the decision-making process is. I have sat up in the small hours of the morning discussing mesh sizes for fishing nets that will be used off the north-west coast of Scotland, 1,000 miles from where I was sitting. I am not an expert and nor was the Commission official who was having the discussion with me, but the fishermen who fish there are. They will now be part of that decision-making process. They will be able to drive those technical details in an effective way, not one that is so remote from how they fish.

Fisheries Council

Debate between Lord Benyon and William Bain

Monday 19th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Richard Benyon]

My hon. Friend will know that I have been particularly keen in this job to see a better deal for the inshore fleet. I believe that the pilots we are about to start will show a new way of managing the inshore fleet and I can assure her that the scientific evidence we require for that will be vital. As we roll out the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 and the marine conservation zones, we will see further investment in information about what is going on in our seas, on the seabed and so on, to ensure that we protect those areas as much as possible.

My hon. Friend asked about regionalisation and it is vital that we get this right. This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity, and, frankly, I do not believe that we will have another chance if we do not get it right this time. Decentralisation must mean an end to the top-down detailed decisions that I described earlier being taken so far from the fisheries. The problem we have in the United Kingdom is that our fisheries are complex. They are mixed fisheries with species swimming alongside each other, which means that if one species is targeted another is caught. Systems of management such as the cod recovery plan that operate from the sub-Arctic waters of the north down to the waters of Spain simply do not work because they are a one-size-fits-all solution and that simply does not work with fisheries.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

Will the Minister guarantee that the result of the Council last week still places the European Union on target to achieve maximum sustainable yield by 2015? Does not the outcome of the Council make a powerful case for the introduction of long-term reforms to the CFP and of long-term catch quotas to deal with the problem of by-catch and discards? Is not that reform preferable to the abolition of the CFP, which is the policy of Scotland’s separatist party?

[Richard Benyon]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. We very much stick to our international agreed position of seeking to achieve maximum sustainable yield where possible by 2015 and good environmental status by 2020. He is right that long-term management plans are the way forward. I have just been rubbishing one long-term management plan, the cod recovery plan, which is a bad plan. What we want is good long-term management plans, and we certainly can achieve that. The problem with the common fisheries policy is not that it is common but that the policy is wrong. We will always need a degree of common working and all but a very few people in this country recognise that where there is an arbitrary line, such as the one that goes down the Irish sea or the median line through the channel, fish do cross those boundaries. We simply cannot work our management systems on just one side of that line; we must work on an ecosystems basis. That is why we need co-operation with other countries.

Common Fisheries Policy

Debate between Lord Benyon and William Bain

Thursday 14th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Richard Benyon]

The short answer to my hon. Friend’s first question is yes. The Government recognise the value of recreational sea angling, and we want to encourage it. We are running a specific project to identify sea anglers and their numbers, and to support their work for both tourism and the natural environment. Sea angling from the shore has no connection with the common fisheries policy, and will remain our national responsibility. We hope to see more sea anglers fishing onshore and from vessels.

As for my hon. Friend’s second, more technical question about the 12-mile limit, we will look for any opportunity to take more control over the management of our fisheries at a local level. The thrust of our proposals has been, and will continue to be, a decentralisation of fisheries management. We, too, want a level playing field, and my hon. Friend was entirely right to suggest that. Any examples of countries’ failing to comply will be our responsibility in the negotiations.

Finally, let me say something about our marine conservation measures. We want to ensure that we do not limit the activities of our fishermen in our waters, and then see other fishermen, with historic rights that may precede 1972, coming into our waters and fishing in an unacceptable way. I assure my hon. Friend that I am determined to see a level playing field.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

May I offer the Opposition’s support for the reforms proposed by the European Commission yesterday? They present a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape the current top-down, broken common fisheries policy into one that can better serve the fishing industry and consumers, and protect our marine environment.

Will the Minister join me in welcoming the potential that the reforms have to end the scandal of up to 60% of fish in some European fisheries being discarded at sea by introducing individual, nationally tradeable catch shares? Will he also support further incentives for the fishing industry to increase investment in selective fishing nets and other monitoring equipment, which could cut the levels of discards and by-catch still further? Will he take up the challenge from the WWF to call for specific measures to ensure that environmental targets are met by a new common fisheries policy, and to rebuild fisheries that the Commission said yesterday have been over-exploited by 75%? Small-scale fleets account for 77% of total EU fleet size, but only 8% in terms of tonnage. Will the Minister indicate how these proposals will secure the viability of that sector?

Finally, does the Minister share my disappointment that although a consensus in favour of these changes is building throughout the EU, the Scottish Government have chosen this moment to isolate themselves in Europe by opposing these reforms, and although their views will be respected, they will not shift the unanimous will of this House, nor of the 700,000 people who have signed the Fish Fight petition, to seize this moment for reform in the interests of the sustainability of fish stocks and the future of the fishing industry?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Benyon and William Bain

Thursday 17th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Richard Benyon]

The hon. Gentleman makes a very good point. The fisheries science partnerships have been doing precisely that, and have been doing good work. In prioritising this matter we are going with the grain of public opinion and the opinion of fishermen, who want to see an end to this practice, and yes, we have to do it on the basis of sound evidence. There is good practice going on, with scientists going onboard fishing boats for a variety of reasons, including to get a better understanding of what discards are and how we can tackle them. That work is highly valued.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

As well as an end to discards, we need firm action on by-catch. Does the Minister welcome the announcement by Princes and Asda to follow other major retailers in ceasing to sell tuna caught using fishing practices that Greenpeace estimated in 2007 resulted in levels of by-catch of 182,000 tonnes per year? Will he also give a guarantee to persuade the remaining retailers selling unsustainably fished tuna to reflect the views of the 661,000 people who signed the Fish Fight petition and end fishing practices that damage the biodiversity of our oceans?

[Richard Benyon]

Yes to all that. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the Government are at the forefront of measures to protect blue fin tuna. I thoroughly welcome the move by Princes and other processors to ensure that they use tuna from sustainable stocks, and we will continue to work with Members on both sides of the House to ensure that this continues.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Benyon and William Bain

Thursday 3rd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Richard Benyon]

We are progressing with the implementation of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, which will result in marine protected areas—marine conservation zones—around the coasts. We have four projects up and running, and I am working very hard to ensure that they are properly resourced and working towards the timetable of 2012. I very much hope that they will be able to deliver on that, and I will keep the House informed on progress. At the recent OSPAR talks in Bergen I was able to support a wider proposal in respect of international waters. The work we do on international fisheries and fisheries partnerships is key to ensuring that fishery conservation measures not only apply in our own waters, but are followed up elsewhere.

[Mr William Bain (Glasgow North East) (Lab)]

Does the Minister agree that, as Denmark has shown, further action can be taken by this Government, in conjunction with the devolved Administrations, to cut discard levels this year? Will he seek approval for an increase in the scope of this year’s catch quota trials, which half the Scottish white fish fleet expressed an interest in joining? Will he pledge to incentivise investment in more selective nets and in on-ship CCTV to monitor what stocks are being taken from the sea? Would those measures, together with radical reform of the CFP, not add up to an effective national action plan to end for good this appalling waste of good quality fish?

[Mr Speaker]

There were a lot of questions there, but I know that we will hear a pithy response from the Minister.