Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will meet representatives of the Woodland Trust and Country Living magazine to discuss a register of England's most important trees.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Defra has received nearly 10,000 emails and letters in support of the campaign for a register of England's most important trees. Defra officials are already in contact with the Woodland Trust on this matter and a meeting has been arranged.
Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what representations she has received on the Woodland Trust and Country Living magazine's campaign for a register of England's most important trees; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
Defra has received nearly 10,000 emails and letters in support of the campaign for a register of England's most important trees. Defra officials are already in contact with the Woodland Trust on this matter and a meeting has been arranged.
Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many of the species in the UK's Overseas Territories have had their conservation status assessed.
Answered by George Eustice
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office recently funded a project led by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) to carry out the first ever stocktake of species in the UK’s Overseas Territories (UKOTs). The study, completed between January 2013 and March 2014, brought together all known species records and conservation assessments. It found that there are at least 1,500 endemic species in the UKOTs and that 145 (9%) of these have had their global conservation status assessed.
The report of the study’s findings, ‘The UK’s Wildlife Overseas: A stocktake of nature in our Overseas Territories’, was published on 5 June 2014 and can be found on the RSPB’s website at:
www.rspb.org.uk/whatwedo/projects/details.aspx?id=369443
Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office publication, Overseas Territories, Security, Success and Sustainability, published in November 2012, what progress her Department has made on each of the environmental Priorities for Action in that paper; and what further steps she plans to take to deliver those priorities.
Answered by Dan Rogerson
In the UK we work across Government to deliver co-ordinated support to the Territories on natural environment issues. Each Department leads on its respective areas of responsibility. Under the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s White Paper, ‘The Overseas Territories: Security, Success and Sustainability’, Defra leads on biodiversity and climate change adaptation and is committed to providing support for endangered species and habitats. This includes work through the ‘Darwin Plus: Overseas Territories Environment and Climate Fund’ launched in October 2012 and implementation of the UK Overseas Territories Biodiversity Strategy. Together with its Agencies, Defra has continued to provide technical and policy advice and ensured the delivery of key research in the Territories.
We recently published a comprehensive update on ongoing and planned UK Government activities in support of the UK Overseas Territories Biodiversity Strategy, which sets out in detail some of our activities in these areas:
www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-overseas-territories-biodiversity-strategy-update.
Actions range from co-funding an officer based in the Falkland Islands, responsible for implementing the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels on behalf of the South Atlantic Overseas Territories, to funding environmental mainstreaming in Anguilla to help put environmental considerations at the heart of decision making.
Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of commercial landings of fish and shellfish from UK-registered fishing vessels were taken from a depth below 800 metres in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.
Answered by George Eustice
Determination of catches according to depth criteria and the time vessels fish at particular depths is labour intensive and requires extensive spatial analysis of catch records and vessel activity within a geographical information system. From analysis related to the EU deep sea access regime update discussions, we have provisional catch and vessel data available covering 2006 – 2012 (see tables attached). This covers total annual catches (all species) and the proportion of these caught below 600m, and vessels targeting deep sea species at depths greater than 600m. We have not carried out similar analysis related to depths greater than 800m or covering 2013. Quota is not allocated to Member States under the EU deep sea access regime.
Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what tonnage of fish and shellfish quota was allocated to the UK under the Deep Sea Access Regime in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.
Answered by George Eustice
Determination of catches according to depth criteria and the time vessels fish at particular depths is labour intensive and requires extensive spatial analysis of catch records and vessel activity within a geographical information system. From analysis related to the EU deep sea access regime update discussions, we have provisional catch and vessel data available covering 2006 – 2012 (see tables attached). This covers total annual catches (all species) and the proportion of these caught below 600m, and vessels targeting deep sea species at depths greater than 600m. We have not carried out similar analysis related to depths greater than 800m or covering 2013. Quota is not allocated to Member States under the EU deep sea access regime.
Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many UK-registered fishing vessels practise bottom trawling below a depth of 600 metres; and for what proportion of time spent at sea those bottom trawlers trawl below (a) 600 metres and (b) 800 metres.
Answered by George Eustice
Determination of catches according to depth criteria and the time vessels fish at particular depths is labour intensive and requires extensive spatial analysis of catch records and vessel activity within a geographical information system. From analysis related to the EU deep sea access regime update discussions, we have provisional catch and vessel data available covering 2006 – 2012 (see tables attached). This covers total annual catches (all species) and the proportion of these caught below 600m, and vessels targeting deep sea species at depths greater than 600m. We have not carried out similar analysis related to depths greater than 800m or covering 2013. Quota is not allocated to Member States under the EU deep sea access regime.
Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of the total commercial landings of fish and shellfish from UK registered fishing vessels was taken from a depth below 600 metres in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013.
Answered by George Eustice
Determination of catches according to depth criteria and the time vessels fish at particular depths is labour intensive and requires extensive spatial analysis of catch records and vessel activity within a geographical information system. From analysis related to the EU deep sea access regime update discussions, we have provisional catch and vessel data available covering 2006 – 2012 (see tables attached). This covers total annual catches (all species) and the proportion of these caught below 600m, and vessels targeting deep sea species at depths greater than 600m. We have not carried out similar analysis related to depths greater than 800m or covering 2013. Quota is not allocated to Member States under the EU deep sea access regime.
Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which organisations, groups and industry bodies his Department has met since 2010 to discuss lost commercial fishing gear and its effect on UK waters and marine animals.
Answered by George Eustice
Provisions concerning the retrieval and reporting of lost fishing gear are contained in the EU Fisheries Control Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No.1224/2009). Defra has not held meetings specifically to discuss lost fishing gear. However, officials frequently discuss this Regulation with the fishing industry and other interested parties. Masters of all EU fishing vessels are required to report any lost fishing gear to the vessel's flag state. This requirement was notified to all licence holders when the current control regulation was introduced, and the Marine Management Organisation plans to issue additional guidance that will remind vessel masters of their responsibilities in this respect on the www.GOV.UK website in the near future.
As part of Defra's work in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans in the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas (ASCOBANS) we actively participate in discussions relating to understanding the extent and impact of entanglement of cetaceans in lost fishing gear.
Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is working with the fishing industry to ensure lost commercial fishing gear is reported to relevant authorities in line with requirements under (a) the Common Fisheries Policy and (b) other international agreements.
Answered by George Eustice
Provisions concerning the retrieval and reporting of lost fishing gear are contained in the EU Fisheries Control Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No.1224/2009). Defra has not held meetings specifically to discuss lost fishing gear. However, officials frequently discuss this Regulation with the fishing industry and other interested parties. Masters of all EU fishing vessels are required to report any lost fishing gear to the vessel's flag state. This requirement was notified to all licence holders when the current control regulation was introduced, and the Marine Management Organisation plans to issue additional guidance that will remind vessel masters of their responsibilities in this respect on the www.GOV.UK website in the near future.
As part of Defra's work in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and the Agreement on the Conservation of Small Cetaceans in the Baltic, North East Atlantic, Irish and North Seas (ASCOBANS) we actively participate in discussions relating to understanding the extent and impact of entanglement of cetaceans in lost fishing gear.