§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list total United Kingdom 217W permitted landings, in tonnes, of fish under the present Common Fisheries Policy distributions; and if he will estimate discards, by tonne, of each fish type in the past 12 months. [86730]
§ Mr. MorleyThe United Kingdom's quota share of the Total Allowable Catch (which need not be landed in the UK) for 1999 is set out in the table:
218W
Tonnes Stock and ICES1 reporting area 1999 UK quota Sandeels IIa, IV 20,000 Herring I, II 25,190 Herring IVa, b 40,570 Herring IVc, VIId 1,693 Herring Vb, VIaN, VIb 39,240 Herring VIa (Clyde) 1,000 Herring VIIa 4,880 Herring VIIe, f 500 Herring VIIg-k 30 Herring IIa, IV Industrial by-catch 550 Cod IIa, IV 56,260 Cod Vb, VI, XII, XIV 5,690 Cod VIIa 1,585 Cod VIIb-k, VIII, IX, X 1,570 Megrim IIa, IV 2,880 Megrim Vb, VI, XII, XIV 1,520 Megrim VII 3,210 Dab and Flounder IIa, IV 2,590 Anglers IIa, IV 17,960 Anglers Vb, VI, XII, XIV 2,650 Anglers VII 4,800 Haddock IIa, IV 57,045 Haddock Vb, VI, XII, XIV 15,110 Haddock VII, VIII, IX, X 2,220 Haddock VIIa 2,390 Whiting IIa, IV 24,590 Whiting Vb, VI, XII, XIV 4,060 Whiting VIIa 1,720 Whiting VIIb-k 2,680 Hake Ha, IV 350 Hake Vb, VI, XII, XIV 5,550 Lemon sole and Witch IIa, IV 7,330 Blue Whiting IIa, IV 1,070 Nephrops IIa, IV 13,165 Nephrops Vb, VI 12,305 Nephrops VII 7,545 Plaice IIa, IV 28,070 Plaice Vb, VI, XII, XIV 1,450 Plaice VIIa 885 Plaice VIId, e 2,150 Plaice VIIf, g 205 Plaice VIIh, j, k 170 Pollack Vb, VI, XII, XIV 400 Pollack VII 2,960 Saithe IIa, IIIb, c, d IV 8,830 Saithe Vb, VI, XII, XIV 3,125 Saithe VII, VIII, IX, X 1,350 Turbot and Brill IIa, IV 1,390 Skates and Rays IIa, IV 3,920 Mackerel IIa (EC) III, IV 1,390 Mackerel IIa (non-EC), Vb, VI, VII, VIIIa, b, d, e, XII, XIV 165,480 Sole II, IV 945 Sole Vb, VI, XII, XIV 30 Sole VIIa 200 Sole VIId 905 Sole VIIe 410 Sole VIIf, g 270 Sole VIIh, j, k 120 Sprat IIa, IV 5,900 Sprat VIId, e 6,300 Horse mackerel IIa, IV 5,840 Horse mackerel Vb, VI, VII, VIIIa, b, c, d, e, XII, XIV 25,310 1 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea Information on discards is not collected on a comparable stock by stock basis. From research work involving observers on fishing vessels, scientists estimate that the level of discarding varies according to number and age of fish available, season, mesh size used and anticipated market conditions as perceived by fishermen. We understand that discarding tends to be very low for pelagic species and for some demersal fish such as sole but can be significantly higher for gadoids such as cod, haddock and whiting.
MAFF is contributing funds to an international project to study the economic causes of discarding at sea and to consider alternative management measures to reduce discarding in EU fisheries. The majority of fish discarded is undersize or considered uneconomic.