Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, which Asian companies purchased commercial fishing licences in Ascension Island's waters in each of the last five years.
Fisheries management is a devolved issue and as such is the responsibility of the Ascension Island Government. We have consulted the Ascension Island Government regarding this information. It would not be appropriate to provide the names of companies which purchased commercial fishing licences as this information is held in commercial confidence by the Ascension Island Government. All existing fishing licences expired at the end of 2013 and the Ascension Island Government are not issuing any new fishing licences until a decision has been made on the future management regime.