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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with EU officials on the use of electric shock fishing methods in Holland which are illegal in the UK.

There have been no discussions with EU officials on electric shock fishing methods which are illegal in the UK. Discussions on the use of electric pulse beam trawls in the southern North Sea have been ongoing. These have occurred as EU institutions consider the derogation which has allowed 5% of each Member State’s beam trawl fleet to fish using pulse technology in EU waters, for the last ten years. The EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council negotiating position agreed in February this year was to maintain the current derogation, although the UK advocated its suspension pending further scientific evidence.

During consideration of the latest available science on pulse fishing at the June meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council, I emphasised a particular UK interest in this issue and signposted original research being carried out by our own scientists on this technology which is due to report in 2019.