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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the UK can enforce its fishing rights after the end of the transition period.

The Government has taken significant steps to ensure the UK can enforce its fishing rights. These include, with respect to England via the Marine Management Organisation, increasing the number of frontline warranted officers by 50% (35 people) for 2019/2020; putting in place a framework to increase aerial surveillance by a maximum of two surveillance aircraft as risk and intelligence demands; and chartering two additional commercial vessels to enable an increase in routine sea-based inspections to supplement provision from the Royal Navy Fisheries Protection Squadron.

Fisheries control and enforcement is a devolved matter. As such, it will continue to be for each Devolved Administration to decide how best to control and enforce its waters, and what new arrangements may be needed. We continue to work closely with the Devolved Administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to ensure a coordinated approach to fisheries control and enforcement across UK waters.