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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will list (1) the involvement of overseas companies in UK-based fishing companies, and (2) the percentage of overseas involvement in all the quotas and total allowable catch allocations applied to the UK under the Common Fisheries Policy.

The UK’s quota is currently allocated on the basis of Fixed Quota Allocation (FQA) units which are attached to UK vessel licences. These can only be allocated to vessels registered and licensed in the UK.

A decision by a British fisher to sell a licence to, or buy a licence from, another fisher or company is a commercial one, and one for fishers alone to make.

An economic link condition was introduced to UK licences in 1999 to make sure a genuine economic benefit is accrued to the UK from the fishing of UK quota. The Government is considering reform of the economic link condition after the transition period as part of the development of our future fisheries management arrangements.

The FQA Register is a list of fishing vessel licences, the FQA units linked to them and the owners. The FQA Register can be found online at: www.fqaregister.service.gov.uk