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 potential merits of reducing the minimum landing size for invasive species of clams which may not grow to the required size.

The Marine Management Organisation and the Kent and Essex Inshore Fisheries Conservation Authority are developing a research plan to assess the abundance and condition of non-native clams in the inshore and offshore area of the Thames Estuary. This will establish the potential commercial viability of the fishery. The minimum landing size regulation for clams protects the native clam stocks. Any actions to open-up the non-native clam fishery must also consider impacts on native stocks and on the marine environment.