Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will commit to not setting future fishing quotas in excess of scientific advice.

The UK's approach is that Total Allowable Catches for all species should be based on the best available scientific advice. The goal is to seek to maintain fish stocks and fisheries at sustainable levels in the long term or to rebuild them to such levels, where necessary.

The objectives in the Fisheries Act 2020, the draft Joint Fisheries Statement and proposed Fisheries Management Plans collectively reaffirm our commitment to achieving sustainable fishing and protecting the marine environment. The Act enshrines in law the Government’s commitments for sustainable fishing, restating our commitment to fishing at maximum sustainable yield through the ‘sustainability objective’ and ‘precautionary objective’.