Asked by: Lord MacKenzie of Culkein (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for additional naval assets to provide for increased protection to UK fisheries in both the UK territorial waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone following withdrawal from the EU and the London Fisheries Convention.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Defra is making a full assessment of the scale and volume of sea-based patrol capability required after we leave the EU with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), Ministry of Defence, Royal Navy and other agencies.
The Government has established a Joint Maritime Operational Coordination Centre to coordinate all sea-based patrol activity across marine agencies to derive maximum surveillance benefit.
Asked by: Lord MacKenzie of Culkein (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have had discussions with the government of Denmark following the decision to withdraw the UK from the London Fisheries Convention and the Danish claim to have historical rights to fish in UK waters that precede the signing of the Convention.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The UK Government has had no discussions with the government of Denmark about the London Fisheries Convention or Danish claims to have historical rights to fish in UK waters. Denmark does not have rights within the UK’s 6-12 mile zone which is the area covered under the London Convention, but does have access to the UK’s 12-200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone under the Common Fisheries Policy. The Government has been clear that when we leave the EU, the UK will be an Independent Coastal State and will be able to decide on access to UK waters.
Asked by: Lord MacKenzie of Culkein (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have had discussions with the Scottish Government with a view to agreeing a joint policy on fisheries in advance of the time when the UK leaves the EU and withdraws from the London Fisheries Convention.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
We are committed to working closely with the Scottish Government and the other devolved administrations to develop a future fishing policy that works for the whole of the UK. We will respect the devolution settlements and envisage that the powers of the devolved administrations will increase as we leave the EU.
There have been extensive discussions at Ministerial and official level between Defra and the devolved administrations, including the Scottish Government.
As part of this regular engagement, the Environment Secretary met the devolved administrations in September and will meet them again on 6 November.