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 to ensure inshore fishing voices are equitably represented in Fisheries Management Plans and Marine Spatial Planning Decisions.

Inshore voices are considered across all fisheries management through support from regional fisheries groups, the Marine Management Organisation’s network of regional fisheries managers, meetings of Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities and other routine engagement.

Marine plans should be used to guide decision makers on how to balance different interests in the sea, including fisheries. National policy statements also set out how marine activities should be considered.