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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department plans to take to ensure that data obtained in respect of marine mammal bycatch monitoring meets the requirements of the US Marine Mammal Protection Act Import Provision Rule.

We have a long-term UK bycatch monitoring programme that uses dedicated observers to focus monitoring efforts on fisheries that pose a high risk of cetacean bycatch. The data from this programme have been used to complete our response to the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration to fulfil requirements of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

We continue to engage with the United States to discuss the details of the UK’s approach to cetacean bycatch monitoring and management and to ensure that we meet the requirements of the MMPA Import Provision Rule.