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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what conclusions have been issued by the joint working party on reforming the rules on fish discards referred to on page 32 of the 2018 White Paper on Sustainable Fisheries for Future Generations.

The Government remains fully committed to ending the wasteful discarding of fish and working closely with the UK fishing industry and other stakeholders to address this issue.

Since publishing the 2018 Fisheries White Paper, Defra has held a number of workshops with industry and other stakeholders, including NGOs, on how the rules on fish discards can be reformed so that they are tailored to our industry and our marine environment. This engagement will continue throughout the development of our future policy.