Asked by: Holly Lynch (Labour - Halifax)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 December 2017, HCWS386, what scientific evidence informed the decision to set total allowable catches for anglerfish and pollack in the Celtic Sea.
Answered by George Eustice
Both anglerfish and pollack in the Celtic Sea are Data Limited Stocks. However, scientific advice published by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) was used to inform the decision to rollover the total allowable catch (TAC) for Area 7 anglerfish and Area 7 pollack in 2018.
In the case of Area 7 anglerfish, advice was issued in 2016 for quotas in 2017 and 2018 and therefore the TAC for 2018 remained the same as in 2017.
For Area 7 pollack, ICES issued advice in 2017 for quotas in 2018, 2019 and 2020, however the advised tonnage is unchanged from the previous advice and therefore the TAC for 2018 remained the same as for 2017.
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effect of changes to fishing quotas announced at the December 2015 Fisheries and Agriculture Council meeting on the long-term sustainability of fish stocks in UK waters.
Answered by George Eustice
My provisional assessment of the effect of the changes to fishing quotas, agreed at the December 2015 Fisheries and Agriculture Council, is that 24 of the fish stocks in which the UK has an interest will be fished at or below maximum sustainable yield levels in 2016. This is an increase of 8 (50%) compared with the outcome of the 2014 negotiations.
Stocks fished at, or below, maximum sustainable yield in 2015:
1. North Sea haddock |
2. West of Scotland haddock |
3. Nephrops IV in Fladen ground |
4. North Sea plaice |
5. North Sea sprat |
6. North Sea autumn spawning herring |
7. Irish Sea herring |
8. Herring in Division VIa (North) |
9. Herring VIIa Celtic Sea and South of Ireland |
10. Herring in subareas I, II, V and sub areas Vi and VII |
11. Western Channel sole |
12. Horse Mackerel IIa. IVa. Vb. VIa. VIIa-c. e-k. VIII |
13. Whiting VII b-k |
14. Blue ling in Division Vb. and Subareas VI and VII |
15. NE Atlantic spurdog |
16. Roundnose grenadier in Vb, VI, VII |
Additional stocks which will be fished at, or below, maximum sustainable yield in 2016:
17.North Sea cod |
18.Nephrops in the Firth of Forth |
19.Nephrops in Moray Firth |
20.North Sea, West of Scotland and Rockall saithe |
21.Western Channel plaice |
22.Rockall haddock |
23. Megrim in Divisions IVa and Via |
24. Irish Sea sole |
Asked by: Alex Cunningham (Labour - Stockton North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps is she taking to achieve an end to overfishing by 2020.
Answered by George Eustice
The UK Government was instrumental in ensuring that the EU Common Fisheries Policy contains a legal requirement requiring that by 2020, at the latest, fishing rates are set at levels that will deliver maximum sustainable yield (MSY).
At the European Union Agriculture and Fisheries Council in December 2015, I maintained the pressure and successfully secured a 50% increase in the number of fish stocks, in which the UK has an interest, that will be fished at or below MSY levels in 2016.
Stocks fished at, or below, maximum sustainable yield in 2015:
1. North Sea haddock |
2. West of Scotland haddock |
3. Nephrops IV in Fladen ground |
4. North Sea plaice |
5. North Sea sprat |
6. North Sea autumn spawning herring |
7. Irish Sea herring |
8. Herring in Division VIa (North) |
9. Herring VIIa Celtic Sea and South of Ireland |
10. Herring in subareas I, II, V and sub areas Vi and VII |
11. Western Channel sole |
12. Horse Mackerel IIa. IVa. Vb. VIa. VIIa-c. e-k. VIII |
13. Whiting VII b-k |
14. Blue ling in Division Vb. and Subareas VI and VII |
15. NE Atlantic spurdog |
16. Roundnose grenadier in Vb, VI, VII |
Additional stocks which will be fished at, or below, maximum sustainable yield in 2016:
17.North Sea cod |
18.Nephrops in the Firth of Forth |
19.Nephrops in Moray Firth |
20.North Sea, West of Scotland and Rockall saithe |
21.Western Channel plaice |
22.Rockall haddock |
23. Megrim in Divisions IVa and VIa |
24. Irish Sea sole |
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to change the distribution of Common Fisheries Policy quotas for inshore fishing fleets.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra is in the final stages of a permanent quota realignment exercise which will represent a 14% uplift in the amount of quota the inshore fleet currently receives.
We have also announced that the inshore fleet will be the principal beneficiaries of any quota uplift received as a result of the introduction of the demersal landing obligation.
For species subject to the discard ban from January 2016, we have announced that the non-sector pools will receive the first 100 tonnes of any quota uplift received and 10% of any remaining uplift. For 2016 this represents more than 1,000 tonnes of uplift to support the non-sector in their adaptation to the landing obligation and includes key stocks such as haddock, whiting and plaice.
In the Celtic Sea there will be an estimated additional 126 tonnes of whiting and 142 tonnes of hake to support the non-sector.
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recorded number of sea bass was discarded in the (a) Irish and (b) Celtic Sea by UK registered vessels in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
Under long standing Irish national measures to protect bass stocks their commercial fishing vessels are not permitted to land bass for sale, which means a degree of discarding of bass by-catch from mixed fishing activity will occur. We have no data available to us, however, on the level of such discards by Irish vessels.
For UK vessels we have discard estimates for the last five years combined for the Irish and Celtic Seas. These relate to otter trawlers, netters and beam trawlers, based on the numbers of sampled trips (see table (b)). We do not sample hook and line boats although these report a sizeable fraction of bass landings in these areas, as survival rates for discarded bass from commercial rod-and line or hand-line boats (under 10 metre inshore vessels) are considered potentially relatively high.
(a) Numbers (thousands) and weight (tonnes) landed and discarded for sampled fleets (otter, nets, beam) in Irish and Celtic Seas, raised to fleet landings for each gear, based on at-sea observer sampling by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas).
Number '000s | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | Mean |
Landed | 48 | 36 | 29 | 39 | 30 | 36 |
Discarded | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 8 |
% discarded | 14 | 20 | 25 | 21 | 11 | 18 |
Tonnes | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | Mean |
Landed | 107 | 58 | 71 | 94 | 80 | 82 |
Discarded | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 |
% discarded | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
(b) Number of trips sampled, Irish and Celtic Seas
No. trips sampled | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | Total |
Beam trawls | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
Netters | 4 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 46 |
Otter trawls | 23 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 12 | 97 |
Grand Total | 28 | 24 | 38 | 33 | 22 | 145 |
Asked by: Angela Smith (Liberal Democrat - Penistone and Stocksbridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recorded number of sea bass were discarded in the (a) Irish and (b) Celtic Sea by Irish vessels in each of the last five years.
Answered by George Eustice
Under long standing Irish national measures to protect bass stocks their commercial fishing vessels are not permitted to land bass for sale, which means a degree of discarding of bass by-catch from mixed fishing activity will occur. We have no data available to us, however, on the level of such discards by Irish vessels.
For UK vessels we have discard estimates for the last five years combined for the Irish and Celtic Seas. These relate to otter trawlers, netters and beam trawlers, based on the numbers of sampled trips (see table (b)). We do not sample hook and line boats although these report a sizeable fraction of bass landings in these areas, as survival rates for discarded bass from commercial rod-and line or hand-line boats (under 10 metre inshore vessels) are considered potentially relatively high.
(a) Numbers (thousands) and weight (tonnes) landed and discarded for sampled fleets (otter, nets, beam) in Irish and Celtic Seas, raised to fleet landings for each gear, based on at-sea observer sampling by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas).
Number '000s | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | Mean |
Landed | 48 | 36 | 29 | 39 | 30 | 36 |
Discarded | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 4 | 8 |
% discarded | 14 | 20 | 25 | 21 | 11 | 18 |
Tonnes | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | Mean |
Landed | 107 | 58 | 71 | 94 | 80 | 82 |
Discarded | 3 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 3 |
% discarded | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
(b) Number of trips sampled, Irish and Celtic Seas
No. trips sampled | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | Total |
Beam trawls | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
Netters | 4 | 4 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 46 |
Otter trawls | 23 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 12 | 97 |
Grand Total | 28 | 24 | 38 | 33 | 22 | 145 |
Asked by: Alison Seabeck (Labour - Plymouth, Moor View)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which fish species have been overfished in 2013-14.
Answered by George Eustice
In 2013, four stocks from over 100 were overfished as follows:
Stock Landings as percentage of quota
North Sea herring 100.2%
Celtic Sea sole 105.2%
Celtic Sea plaice 112.1%
Western Approaches plaice 118.7%
Data for 2014 are not yet available as international quota trading, which may be used to cover initial overfishing, is permitted until the end of January 2015.