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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to publish the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science study on the effect of electric fishing in UK waters.

The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) completed a desktop review on pulse technology entitled “The impacts of flatfish pulse trawling: evidence review, data gaps and future research”. The report is subject to a peer review process which is due to be completed by the end of December. The finalised report is therefore expected to be ready for publication early in the New Year.

We have also commissioned some original science for future research with a study including at-sea comparisons of pulse and conventional beam trawl impacts.