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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether any of the fishing limits set within the North Sea Annual Plan are at a level that is not capable of producing maximum sustainable yield; and whether there are plans for those limits to be capped at the threshold advised by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

We remain committed to fishing at MSY. In the North Sea multi-annual plan (MAP), the target fishing mortality ranges and the conservation reference points aim to ensure stocks are fished at rates consistent with maximum sustainable yield. We expect the range and reference points to be reviewed regularly to take account of the latest stock advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

The North Sea MAP has not yet been adopted and the ranges and reference points set out in the proposal may need to be reviewed to ensure they are consistent with scientific advice for 2018.