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

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 4 July (HL Deb, col 593), whether they plan to continue to use the research provided by the International Council for Exploration of the Seas.

Defra has access to world class fisheries science experts in the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science who provide the Government with high quality advice. Much of the fisheries data we collect is delivered to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) to support its annual assessment of fish stocks.

The UK has been a member of ICES since it was established in 1902 and we intend to continue playing a strong role in it in the future. We will continue to collect data for these assessments after we have left the EU as it is vital for managing our seas and any future negotiations, and we expect to continue to use advice provided by ICES.