§ 7. Mr. Tam Dalyell (Linlithgow)What studies he has commissioned on the importance of coral in the marine food chain. [87921]
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Mr. Elliot Morley)MAFF has not commissioned any studies specifically aimed at assessing the importance of corals in the marine food chain. However, MAFF's research includes assessments of the impact of fishing, gravel dredging and other activities on benthic communities.
§ Mr. DalyellIs not coral—not least the north-west Atlantic coral in our own waters—crucial as a nursery for many species of fish? I was invited by the Foreign Office to a conference on coral for the dependent territories that was held yesterday at London zoo. Could reflection be given to which Department is the lead Department? The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is involved, as are the Department for International Development, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions and, marginally, the Department of Trade and Industry. Is it not important that there should be a lead Department, particularly to follow up the report of 420 Dr. Charles Sheppard, which was published this week and gives an alarming picture of the bleaching of coral, which affects everyone on the planet?
§ Mr. MorleyMy hon. Friend is right. That is a serious matter for the cold-water corals in our waters, of which Lophelia is the main species in the north-west. However, I can give my hon. Friend some reassurance. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee is taking the lead role in co-ordinating research, which is one of its functions in relation to UK issues. The Natural Environment Research Council is also conducting research, as is Norway. Some of those corals are in international waters and we are sharing information because we take this issue seriously.
§ Mr. Owen Paterson (North Shropshire)Under the current fishing regime, British fishermen are dumping more dead fish back into the sea than are being landed for human consumption. What effect is that having on the marine food chain?
§ Mr. MorleyThe discarding of fish is an important issue, which we are addressing. I emphasise that the bulk of discarded fish are under-sized and non-marketable. We are commissioning a research programme in conjunction with the EU and other member states to look at the reasons for discarding and technical solutions for reducing and eliminating it.
§ Mr. Patrick Nicholls (Teignbridge)What possible confidence can we have in the results of the survey that the Minister has announced on the reason for fish discards? As he well knows, as long ago as 1991 the Commission's 10-year survey of the common fisheries policy said that discards were not simply a by-product—some unintended consequence—of the CFP, but a positive obligation under it. Will he also admit that many discards are purely and simply fish that are quite edible and of proper and fit size, but which cannot be landed because of the iniquities of the CFP? That is the reality of the situation and he should not need to commission a survey to tell him what is already an obligation under the CFP.
§ Mr. MorleyI repeat that research programmes that we have carried out, most recently in the North sea, show that 90 per cent. of discards are under-sized and non-commercial fish. Some marketable fish are discarded as a by-product of quota control. Although I have repeatedly invited the industry and the Conservative party to put forward alternatives to quota control, no workable alternative has ever been suggested. I received a letter this morning from a Conservative Member of the European Parliament, who was unable to explain the Conservative party's fisheries policy, and it seems that Conservative MEPs have no idea of where their party stands on fisheries policy and tackling such issues as the conservation of fish.