UK Fishers: EU Agreement

Lord West of Spithead Excerpts

Monday 31st March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

The difficulty with negotiating for fisheries in the UK is that it is such a diverse industry. For example, fishers in Scotland will have very different needs from fishers in Cornwall—from those who may be catching crabs and lobsters to those who are after cod and pollock. It is a very complex area. The outcomes report on sustainability of fishing stocks, for example, is an extremely complex read—if anybody fancies it, I can provide them with a copy. But I completely take the noble Lord’s point, which is why we are very keen to work with industry to properly understand what it would like to see in the future.

[Lord West of Spithead (Lab)]

Does my noble friend the Minister believe that we have sufficient ships looking after our territorial seas and our exclusive economic zone—fishery and the things on the seabed—or does she believe, looking at the SDR, that we should get an increase?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

I am not certain that we would ever have enough ships for my noble friend to be satisfied.