UK Fishers: EU Agreement

Baroness Grender Excerpts

Monday 31st March 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

Clearly, as a Government, we will always push for the best opportunities for our fishers and the fishery industry. We would like to see long-term strategies to provide the industry with greater stability, which is important to it. At the same time, it is important that we always follow scientific advice when developing negotiations and catch limits.

[Baroness Grender (LD)]

My Lords, is the Minister aware that, last week in the other place, the Conservative shadow Environment Minister admitted that the previous Government’s negotiations failed our fisheries? Does she agree that a rollover of the current system will fail them again? Can she tell the House what consideration the Government are giving to proposals from the Liberal Democrats to roll out a multiyear quota system that would help the industry to plan for the future and stop the current cliff edge?

[Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Lab)]

As I just mentioned, we need long-term strategies to give greater stability to the fishing sector. We are also very keen that we develop our policy in this area by working with the industry and talking to fishers and their representatives, so that they have direct input into how we move forward and that we understand, from their perspective, how best we can support them.