Fisheries: Quotas

(asked on 29th September 2020) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the weight was of the fish donated by vessel owners under economic link conditions, by species, in 2019.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 7th October 2020

All UK fishing vessels are registered to UK companies (or individuals); the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) does not hold data relating to the degree of foreign investment or beneficial ownership of these companies or fishing opportunities associated with them. Therefore, it is not possible to provide data on landings, quota compliance or vessel numbers split between UK and foreign ownership. The economic link conditions apply to all UK fishing vessels and are enforced through conditions in the fishing licence to ensure that genuine benefits to the UK are realised by the whole fleet.

The licence condition relating to crewing is audited by the MMO through the requirement of a crew manifest detailing the names and addresses of all crew members. The condition requires residence in the UK and does not specifically relate to distance of residence from the coast.

During 2019 quota donations made though the economic link requirements were estimated to have a value of £2.1 million based on average first sale prices. The donated quota totalled 714 tonnes across the range of stocks as detailed in the table below. Donated quota is provided directly to the 10m and under fleet or traded by the MMO for more beneficial stocks for the 10m and under fleet as necessary. The MMO carries out a large number of trades each year through domestic and international swaps to ensure the most beneficial fishing opportunities for the fleet. Economic link related quota donations form part of the overall trading package along with multiple other sources of quota, so it is not possible to state the precise value of this component. For this reason the MMO uses the first sale value of donated quota to assess the economic link compliance.

Stock donated in 2019 through economic link conditions

Sum of Quantity

Anglers NS (ANF/2AC4-C)

30

Anglers WS (ANF/56-14)

1.1

Cod NS exc IV Norway (COD/2A3AX4)

6

Haddock VIIa (HAD/07A.)

0.2

Hake NS (HKE/2AC4-C)

1

Hake WS incl VII (HKE/571214)

2

Megrim NS IIa(EC), IV(EC) (LEZ/2AC4-C)

6

Megrim WS (LEZ/56-14)

0.2

Nephrops NS (NEP/2AC4-C)

313.7

Nephrops WC (NEP/5BC6.)

7.1

Other Species IV ex EC Norway (OTH/04-N.)

6.4

Plaice VIIa (PLE/07A.)

2

Plaice WS (PLE/56-14)

0.1

Pollack VII (POL/07.)

154

Saithe VII (POK/7/3411)

10

Saithe WS (POK/56-14)

1

Skates & Rays NS (SRX/2AC4-C)

15.5

Skates & Rays VI, VII a-k exc D (SRX/67AKXD)

15

Skates & Rays VIId (SRX/*07D.) [counts against /67AKXD]

9.2

Sole NS (SOL/24-C.)

37

Turbot & Brill NS IIa(EC), IV(EC) (T/B/2AC4-C)

26

Whiting VIIa (WHG/07A.)

1

Whiting VIIb-k (WHG/7X7A-C)

69.6

Reticulating Splines