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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what reports she has received on the Irish government's views on a total ban on commercial fishing for sea bass.

I met the Irish Minister in the margins of the European Union Agriculture and Fisheries Council of 15-16 December to discuss key fisheries items on the Council agenda including management of sea bass stocks.

Under longstanding Irish national measures to protect bass stocks their commercial fishing vessels are not permitted to land bass for sale, which means a degree of discarding of bass by-catch from mixed fishing activity will occur. I have not, however, seen the Bass Discards report published by the Irish Bass Group.