Fisheries Policy (Hansard, 30 October 1986)

§ 9. Dr. Godman
asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement concerning progress during his Presidency of the Agricultural Council of Ministers with regard to EEC fisheries policy.

§ Mr. Jopling
I am delighted to report that at the first meeting of the Fisheries Ministers under the United Kingdom Presidency on 22 and 23 September, I was able to secure a decision on the package of technical conservation measures which had been outstanding since the beginning of the year. This clears the decks for further work on control and on structural measures, on which I hope for decisions before the end of the year.

§ Dr. Godman
Does the Minister agree that the heart of any fisheries policy is the need to conserve stocks of fish? 443 Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that officers and skippers of vessels in Spain in the port of Vigo organise a kitty from which they pay the fines that arise on the rare occasions when a Spanish fishery vessel is caught by our fishery protection vessels? Efficient policing will deplete the Spanish kitty, but what will happen to that policing effort when two or three fisheries protection vessels are taken out of service to police the waters in the south Atlantic?

§ Mr. Jopling
The fisheries protection squadron of the Royal Navy and the arrangements operated by the various Departments in the United Kingdom are the envy of many countries in the Community. We intend to ensure the continuation of the rules on conservation which were agreed in Brussels, and which safeguard the opportunities for fishermen to get the maximum yield from the waters of the Community. We hope that those fishermen who are tempted to transgress the rules will realise that that does not pay.

§ Mr. Hicks
Surely my right hon. Friend cannot be satisfied with the monitoring and policing of the fisheries policy. Is he aware that fishermen in the south-west feel particularly vulnerable over this aspect?

§ Mr. Jopling
That is why we have been pressing the Community and the Commission in Brussels very hard indeed to increase the size of the inspectorate within the Commission so that countries which do not have as efficient an enforcement policy are made to observe the rules properly.

§ Mr. Hugh Brown
What consultations has the Minister had with his fellow Ministers in the EEC about arrangements for the Falkland Islands? Given that the authorities there will have the power to issue licences and quotas, does our membership of the EEC oblige us to give priority to members of the EEC?

§ Mr. Jopling
The responsibility for fisheries protection and arrangments for the Falkland Islands is a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary.

§ Mr. Randall
Is the Minister aware that many people in the industry believe that far too much of the British fleet is antiquated, inefficient, ineffective and unprofitable? Does he agree that much more investment in the British fleet is needed to make it competitive and modern? Is he aware that many people regard the Government's restructuring policy as a dismal failure? What does he intend to do about that?

§ Mr. Jopling
The hon. Gentleman could not have heard me when I said that I hoped that the success of the first meeting of the Fisheries Council will enable us to clear the decks for further work on structural measures, among other things, on which I hope we shall have decisions before the end of the year.

§ Mr. Wallace
On the subject of the negotiations between the Commission and Norway over the share of North sea herring, does the Minister agree that last year British fishermen were dismayed by the 40 per cent. deal which the Norwegians won and that they are now alarmed that the Norwegian fishermen see that as a minimum settlement for this year's negotiations? Can the Minister assure the House that during his Presidency the Community, and, through that, the British fishing fleet, will get a better deal with Norway than last year for North sea herring?

§ Mr. Jopling
We are discussing the negotiations with Norway with the Commission in advance this year agree that the way in which the Commission conducted the negotiations last year was less than satisfactory.