Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (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, pending the roll out of new rules on General Licences, what guidance his Department issues on permitted activities in (a) Special Areas of Conservation and (b) Special Protection Areas.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The new General Licences issued by Defra and published on the 14 June provides information and advice in regard to the application of those licences on or within 300 metres of the boundary of protected sites, which include Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas. Underpinning with Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) designation provides the key mechanism to manage terrestrial European sites. General guidance on the consenting process for permitted activities on SSSIs is published on Gov.uk:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/protected-areas-sites-of-special-scientific-interest
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (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 assessment he has made of the effect on salmon stocks in English rivers of seals.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
No formal assessment of the effect of seal activity on Atlantic salmon stocks has been made in English rivers.
Although diet studies suggest that seals typically prey on other fish species, seals are known to consume salmon in estuaries, around nets and river mouths. Predation by seals is controlled by regulations including licensed sustainable culling, as well as non-lethal methods such as sound scaring equipment.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (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 research programmes on the decline of salmon stocks in English rivers his Department is currently allocating funding to.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Defra funds research conducted by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) and the Environment Agency to address factors contributing to the decline of salmon in English rivers. Factors, such as water quality, migration barriers, marine survival and exploitation are addressed in Defra’s 5 year Implementation Plan for Salmon Management in England and Wales, conducted by Cefas for the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation. Progress on these plans is reported on annually.
Projects Defra is currently funding include:
- Anthropogenic Factors – ‘Prioritising the management of salmonid based on the relative impacts of anthropogenic factors’
- Stock assessment methodology improvement – ‘Genetic sex ratio analysis of salmon smolts and adults’
- Climate Change – ‘Predicted effects of Climate Change on UK diadromous fish populations’
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (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 licences his Department has issued to kill (a) cormorants and (b) goosanders in each of the last five years.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
The numbers of cormorant and goosander licences issued between 2014 and 2019 (to date) by Natural England on behalf of the Secretary of State are given in the table below. Individual licences are licences issued to an individual or angling club/fishery. An area based licence is one licence issued to a primary contact which covers multiple individuals amongst a group of fisheries within a defined catchment or area.
Species | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 (to date) |
Cormorant (Individual) | 409 | 456 | 450 | 435 | 429 | 106 |
Goosander (Individual) | 31 | 35 | 29 | 29 | 29 | 9 |
Cormorant only (Area Based Licence) | 6 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 1 |
Goosander only (Area Based Licence) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Cormorant / Goosander (Area Based Licence) | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (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 assessment he has made of the effect of (a) cormorants and (b) herons on immature fish in English river systems.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The overall impact on immature fish is not assessed at a national level.
However, in granting licences to control protected birds Natural England consider the evidence of damage provided by the applicant (for example the impact on immature fish) as well as the conservation status of the species.
Additionally, the Environment Agency have funded advisory posts to support affected fisheries using income from fishing licence sales. The current arrangement is part of the angling services contract awarded to the Angling Trust which pays for three posts that provide specialist management advice to angling clubs and fisheries owners impacted by cormorants and other fish predators.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (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 recent estimate he has made of salmon stocks in English rivers.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Defra undertakes annual assessments of salmon and sea trout stocks for England and Wales. These assessments are conducted by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.
The annual assessments, including the most recent for 2018, are published on GOV.UK. Which can be accessed via the following link:
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (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, when he plans to authorise the General Licence for land designated as (a) Special Areas of Conservation and (b) Special Protection Areas.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
In his appearance at the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee hearing on 2nd July 2019, the Secretary of State stated our ambition to have a robust licencing scheme in place by February 2020. The new scheme will include provisions for protected sites.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (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 assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the British Horseracing Authority's standards of regulation on horse welfare in British racing compared to other international racing jurisdictions.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is keen that the welfare needs of racehorses are well met, both during their racing lives and afterwards. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is responsible for the safety of racehorses at British racecourses and the BHA works alongside the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare to make horseracing as safe as possible.
The BHA has strong links to the international racing industry and was involved in establishing the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) Horse Welfare Committee.
The Government considers that the standards of regulation, veterinary provision and facilities and fixtures at British racecourses is good. However, both I and the BHA consider that more can be done to make horseracing safer which is why I have been holding regular discussions with the BHA about this. Most recently on the 14 May, I met the BHA as well as the new independent Chair of the BHA’s newly appointed Horse Welfare Board. This Board was formed in March 2019 and includes members from across the racing industry, veterinarians and animal health and welfare specialists. This was a constructive meeting where the number of fatalities of racehorses was acknowledged and both sides agreed that further action is required to tackle avoidable harm and make the sport safer.
The Board committed to doing all it can to improve welfare outcomes. I stressed the need for the BHA to develop a robust action plan that will deliver tangible results and intend to stay in regular contact with both the BHA and newly appointed Horse Welfare Board to continue to press for improvements in racehorse welfare.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (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 assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the standards of regulation, veterinary provision and facilities at fixtures at British racecourses regulated by the British Horseracing Authority to uphold horse welfare.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is keen that the welfare needs of racehorses are well met, both during their racing lives and afterwards. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is responsible for the safety of racehorses at British racecourses and the BHA works alongside the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare to make horseracing as safe as possible.
The BHA has strong links to the international racing industry and was involved in establishing the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) Horse Welfare Committee.
The Government considers that the standards of regulation, veterinary provision and facilities and fixtures at British racecourses is good. However, both I and the BHA consider that more can be done to make horseracing safer which is why I have been holding regular discussions with the BHA about this. Most recently on the 14 May, I met the BHA as well as the new independent Chair of the BHA’s newly appointed Horse Welfare Board. This Board was formed in March 2019 and includes members from across the racing industry, veterinarians and animal health and welfare specialists. This was a constructive meeting where the number of fatalities of racehorses was acknowledged and both sides agreed that further action is required to tackle avoidable harm and make the sport safer.
The Board committed to doing all it can to improve welfare outcomes. I stressed the need for the BHA to develop a robust action plan that will deliver tangible results and intend to stay in regular contact with both the BHA and newly appointed Horse Welfare Board to continue to press for improvements in racehorse welfare.
Asked by: Lord Soames of Fletching (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 assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the establishment of the new Horse Welfare Board on further improving the high standards of welfare in British racing.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is keen that the welfare needs of racehorses are well met, both during their racing lives and afterwards. The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) is responsible for the safety of racehorses at British racecourses and the BHA works alongside the RSPCA and World Horse Welfare to make horseracing as safe as possible.
The BHA has strong links to the international racing industry and was involved in establishing the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) Horse Welfare Committee.
The Government considers that the standards of regulation, veterinary provision and facilities and fixtures at British racecourses is good. However, both I and the BHA consider that more can be done to make horseracing safer which is why I have been holding regular discussions with the BHA about this. Most recently on the 14 May, I met the BHA as well as the new independent Chair of the BHA’s newly appointed Horse Welfare Board. This Board was formed in March 2019 and includes members from across the racing industry, veterinarians and animal health and welfare specialists. This was a constructive meeting where the number of fatalities of racehorses was acknowledged and both sides agreed that further action is required to tackle avoidable harm and make the sport safer.
The Board committed to doing all it can to improve welfare outcomes. I stressed the need for the BHA to develop a robust action plan that will deliver tangible results and intend to stay in regular contact with both the BHA and newly appointed Horse Welfare Board to continue to press for improvements in racehorse welfare.