Fishing (Hansard, 2 April 2001)

§ Mr. Morley

The Government share with fish catching and processing organisations the goal of a sustainable, viable future for the sea fish industry. We are taking firm action to address the long term needs of the industry. A key priority is to protect our fisheries resources for the future. In close partnership with the fishing industry we are taking a lead in the EU in establishing the recovery plans for key stocks such as cod and hake. We will continue to take this work forward seeking an appropriate combination of measures to provide for stock recovery.

At the same time we must address the future direction and priorities of the industry. We all seek a sustainable industry which is economically profitable and which uses environmentally sustainable practices. The Government are ready to support and encourage the industry in pursuing these aims.

In response to cases put to the devolved Administrations in Scotland and Northern Ireland the devolved Administrations have announced plans for measures to tackle the problems faced by their sectors of the fishing industry.

The industry in England has equally put its case to us and we have concluded that a package of measures to assist the adjustments needed is appropriate.

Accordingly, we are making available £6 million for additional assistance in England to assist restructuring in the fishing industry. We will be consulting the industry about the precise form this assistance should take. The funding has been secured from savings redeployed from elsewhere in the fisheries budget and will apply in 2001–02 only. The appropriate mechanisms for securing a better balance between fishing effort and the stocks 80W available in future years will be decided in the light of discussions at EU level on the structural policy for 2002 and beyond.

We also aim to help the adjustment of the industry through the various grants already announced and we are pleased that today we are also launching the fisheries structural fund grants scheme (FIFG) for England. Application forms will be available from my Department shortly. We have already committed £6 million to this EU scheme over the coming three years. In addition there is the separate £5 million fund for fisheries in Cornwall.

The main aims of the structural grants are to promote the adjustments which are needed across the sea fish industry. They will encourage fishermen to improve the quality and thus the value of the fish they catch, by careful handling at sea and in land. There is grant aid to promote the use of sustainable and environmentally friendly fishing methods, through the purchase of suitable gear. Grants are also available for innovation in the processing and marketing of fish onshore.

There is an important role for the provision of advice to the industry in responding to the situation of low fish stocks by developing their operations in viable and sustainable ways, and grant aid is available for projects to provide this support to encourage the introduction of best practice.

A priority for all in the industry is a better safety record at sea. We are making new training courses available across England as announced on 22 March; they will be free to fishermen, funded by £1.5 million FIFG and MAFF grant over three years. We strongly urge all fishermen to take full advantage of these opportunities.

Furthermore, we recognise the strength of the case for helping coastal communities which may be affected by restructuring of the industry. Other measures are therefore being announced by DETR to assist fishing regions in providing support for retraining and regeneration.

Looking further ahead, the recent Green Paper on the future of the Common Fisheries Policy issued by the European Commission opens up opportunities for us to secure major changes in the way fisheries policy works in future. The Government will be consulting on this in detail with the fishing industry and other interests with the object of developing an approach which secures an economically and environmentally sustainable future to meet the needs of all with an interest in the industry in the UK. Meanwhile, the various measures we are applying will be addressing the range of problems faced by the industry.