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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking with the UK fishing sector to encourage consumption of fish caught by that sector throughout the UK.

UK food is renowned for its quality, and high standards of food safety, traceability, animal welfare and sustainability. Defra will always champion UK producers and support them in producing more of our great British food, including seafood.

Defra is currently working in partnership with Seafish on the Sea For Yourself campaign, an initiative to promote seafood species caught in UK waters.

The campaign directs consumers across the UK to the Fish is the Dish website, with tips and recipes to show consumers how they can cook these species, as well as to information on online sales to direct them to websites where they can buy local fish and shellfish.

The campaign launched in March, was set up to support the fishing industry to encourage people to eat and buy UK seafood. Following our exit from the EU, we are taking steps to raise awareness of the wide number of species and opportunities that can be found in UK waters.

Defra has also announced a £1 million Domestic Seafood Supply Scheme to help seafood businesses in England sell their products locally and nationally. Managed by the Marine Management Organisation, the scheme has already allocated close to £900,000 to help increase the supply and consumption of domestically caught seafood in markets across England.