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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plan does the Government has to ensure that UK fishing can restart in the Svalbard Exclusive Economic Zone; and what the timeframe is for securing that fishing agreement.

The UK fleet continues to benefit from fishing opportunities in the waters around Svalbard as a result of arrangements between the UK and Norway. The Marine Management Organisation has now received the relevant information from the operators involved and the relevant licensing processes are complete.