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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether the estimated catch returns in (a) logbooks completed by fishing vessels required to have logbooks and (b) the catch records submitted by fishing vessels under 10m in length are expected to provide accurate information within the tolerances permitted.

The purpose of introducing reporting requirements for the under 10 metre fleet in England, for both logbooks and electronic catch records, is to improve the available data and give a better and more accurate picture of what fish are being taken from our seas.

There is an expectation that accurate data will be submitted and a margin of tolerance has been provided to reflect the practicalities of data submission for this fishery.