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 steps the Government is taking to quantify and mitigate the effects of abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear in UK and international waters.
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, what steps he plans to take to implement the recommendations in the Global Ocean Commission's report, From Decline to Recovery: A Rescue Package for the Global Ocean.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK Government is already playing a key role in tackling a number of issues raised in this report. For example, we are already pressing for an agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction, in ensuring implementation of UN Resolution 61/105 on sustainable fisheries, and in promoting action to combat illegal fishing. We are also working with partner countries in OSPAR on a range of environmental measures in the north-east Atlantic including a regional action plan to address marine litter.
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 oral evidence of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Farming, Food and Marine Environment to the Science and Technology Committee of 12 March 2014, HC 848, question 327, what the evidential basis is for his statement that antibiotics tend to be used in the veterinary world more sparingly than in the medical world.
Answered by George Eustice
Data on antibiotic use in the medical and veterinary sectors are currently collated in a different format, which prevents direct comparison.
However, data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre shows that 376 tonnes of just one class of antibiotic, the β-lactams, was used in primary care in England in 2012. This does not factor in other classes of antibiotic, or those used in secondary care. In contrast the total sales of all antibiotics for use in animals for the whole UK was 409 tonnes, 82 tonnes of which were β-lactams.
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 antibiotics used in the UK are given to farm animals.
Answered by George Eustice
Data on antibiotic use in the medical and veterinary sectors are currently collated in different formats, which prevents direct comparison; it is therefore not possible to accurately ascertain what proportion of total antibiotics used in the UK are given to farm animals.
In 2012, sales of antibiotic active ingredient authorised for veterinary use (farm and companion animals) totalled 409 tonnes.