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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing commercial fishing practices to ensure that fishing practices that are incompatible with the delivery of the Government's climate objectives are phased out in a fair and transparent manner.

The Climate Change Objective in the Fisheries Act ensures that future fisheries management policy will mitigate against the effects of fishing on climate change, as well as adapting to any future impacts of climate change. Fisheries administrations will introduce legally binding policies, for example, to mitigate and reduce emissions, to achieve this objective in the Joint Fisheries Statement.

In addition, UK Fisheries Authorities will develop Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) which will set out in detail the management measures needed for sustainable harvesting and measures to minimise the impact of fishing activity on the environment. Plans will be regularly reviewed against indicators to monitor the FMPs effectiveness in meeting its goals and targets against stock health and sustainability, levels of compliance and wider ecosystem health.