§ Lord Stoddart of Swindonasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the expected drop in spawning stock biomass for hake, plaice and megrim from the year 2000, given that the landing sizes have been set at 27 cm, 22 cm and 20 cm from this date.
§ Lord DonoughueChanges in landing size will not, of themselves, result in any change in spawning stock biomass. It is the mesh size of nets, not the permitted landing size, which determines the size at which fish are killed.
From 1 January 2000, fishermen will be able to land hake, plaice and megrim at these smaller sizes rather than be forced to discard and waste fish that have already been killed.
Total consumption of fish and other marine resources—FAO estimates Metric tons in lire weight (thousands) 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 Belgium/Luxembourg 181 184 185 184 181 196 194 203 187 202 215 Greece 168 179 186 175 196 213 219 232 246 279 254 Finland 153 156 158 161 161 164 163 165 163 172 169 France 1,355 1,440 1,520 1,611 1,590 1.737 1.696 1,654 1,592 1,582 1,537 Germany 848 912 828 871 952 1,046 982 1,026 987 1,060 1,052 Ireland 55 66 61 59 56 58 53 60 64 70 nd Italy 1,131 1,090 1,245 1,151 1,204 1,223 1,298 1,255 1,226 1,230 1,245 Netherlands 188 155 175 203 207 162 155 203 210 215 223 Portugal 547 554 569 586 581 582 606 571 585 575 573 Spain 1,277 1,328 1,339 1,376 1,354 1,351 1,339 1,373 1,407 1,457 1,446 Sweden 215 225 218 225 232 233 230 229 235 248 nd UK 1,020 1,021 1,030 1,047 1,075 1,107 1,082 1,112 1,100 1,122 1,113 Austria 46 49 53 61 69 71 72 80 78 nd nd Denmark 100 101 105 109 109 101 105 110 103 nd nd nd: no data available. Source:
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.