§ Mr. Donald Stewartasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many fishing vessels have left the fleets in England, Wales and Scotland due to factors other than decommissioning in the period since 1981.
§ Mr. Gummer[pursuant to his reply, 28 October 1986, c. 85]: Precise records are not available, but it is estimated that in the order of 1,000 fishing vessels over 10m in length based in England, Wales and Scotland have been deleted from their respective fleet registers since 1981 due to factors other than decommissioning. However, some of these will have joined a fleet elsewhere in the United Kingdom and so still form part of the overall United Kingdom fleet. The reasons for the other deletions include vessels being sold abroad, being sunk or wrecked, or being judged by local fisheries offices as no longer fishing commercially.