Fisheries Bill [ Lords ] (Fourth sitting)

Katherine Fletcher Excerpts

Committee stage
Thursday 10th September 2020 Public Bill Committees

[Stephanie Peacock]

I beg to move amendment 115, in clause 24, page 16, line 26, at end insert—

“(3A) The Secretary of State must ensure that a baseline stock assessment has been made for all non-quota species by 2030 and must report on progress on an annual basis.”

This amendment would require the Secretary of State to gather a baseline stock assessment for those stocks that are not subject to catch limits.

Amendment 115 calls for a baseline stock assessment to be made for all non-quota species by 2030, and requires an annual report on progress. I believe the amendment is vital to ensuring the environmental and economic sustainability of our non-quota fish stocks. As I hope we all acknowledge, the absence of comprehensive data, even on quota species, has led to considerable issues that could threaten the long-term future of the industry and the marine environment itself. Overfishing is only one of the problems caused.

To ensure that the objectives in the Bill are met, the amendment calls for a baseline stock assessment to be made for all non-quota species by 2030 and an annual report on progress.

[Katherine Fletcher (South Ribble) (Con)]

The hon. Lady is talking about a specific point in the trophic pyramid of the ecosystem. She is asking for an assessment of all non-stock species, but is that down to the nudibranchs on the rocks? I can see certain practical challenges with that, even though it is just fish.

[The Chair]

This needs to be a short intervention.

[Katherine Fletcher]

Okay. The trophic pyramid does not allow—just because it has a backbone—for it to be at that point in the ecosystem because it is called a fish in biology. I wonder whether there are unintended consequences of the amendment.

[Stephanie Peacock]

We hope that there will not be unintended consequences, but the amendment speaks to those fish that we actually go out and fish. I hope that clarifies the point.

As such, it seems that baseline stock assessments and annual reporting of progress on this matter are essential if we are to ensure that informed decisions can be made to protect the future of all non-quota species and the fishers who catch them. We know that many of these species are under great pressure. A deficiency in the data can be an excuse for fishing unsustainably. We cannot allow ourselves to plead ignorance, when the important step within this amendment has the potential to prevent such mistakes being made, which we know would be an environmental and economic disaster for the communities that rely on our fish stocks.