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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to regulate the pelagic supertrawler fishing fleet to stop the bycatch of (a) dolphins and (b) other non-target species.

We are considering our policies for large pelagic trawlers, commonly known as supertrawlers, and working to develop more robust management of the non-quota species which these vessels are targeting alongside quota stocks.

In 2022, the UK Government and Devolved Administrations published the UK Bycatch Mitigation Initiative. This sets out how we will work collaboratively with the fishing industry and other stakeholders to minimise and, where possible, eliminate the bycatch of sensitive marine species, such as dolphins.