HL Deb 05 May 1998 vol 589 cc45-6WA
Lord Pearson of Rannoch

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What percentage of the fish at present covered by the common fisheries policy live all the year round in the United Kingdom's Exclusive Economic Zone; what percentage of that figure represents fish which cross into other Exclusive Economic Zones; and at which times of year such fish so cross. [HL1584]

Lord Donoughue

There are over 100 fish stocks for which the EC Fisheries Council sets total allowable catches (TACs). Only one of those stocks, Clyde herring, is found exclusively within the United Kingdom's fisheries limits. It accounts for well under 1 per cent. of the total fish subject to TACs under the Common Fisheries Policy. Part or all of each of the remaining stocks spend some or all of their lives outside UK fisheries limits.

Typically, adult fish migrate against the direction of the prevailing currents to spawn and their eggs and larvae drift with the currents to reach nursery grounds, which can be considerable distances away. For many temperate species the main spawning migration occurs in the winter and early spring. This is followed by a more widespread feeding movement during the rest of the year which can also take fish from one national jurisdiction to another.