Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether an environmental impact assessment has been undertaken of the proposed award of licences for industrial fishing in British waters off Ascension Island.

Ascension Island Government contracted an independent consultant to review the management options for Ascension Island waters. This review examined various factors, including status of the tuna resources and bycatch. Between 2010-2013 when commercial fishing vessels operated around Ascension scientific data, including on bycatch, was collected by national observers on the vessels and is available through scientific papers presented at ICCAT.