§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the progress of the hake recovery programme in(a) area VII arid (b) area VIII. [15871]
§ Mr. MorleyThe European Commission adopted an emergency Regulation in June for a hake recovery plan. Some of these measures came into force on 30 June and others on 1 September. It is too early to assess their effectiveness.
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) when she expects to introduce a shellfish licensing scheme for those fishing areas under her authority; [15745]
(2) what assessment she has made of responses to her Department's proposed shellfish licensing scheme. [15746]
§ Mr. MorleyThe vast majority of the 250 English and Welsh responses to the Department's consultation document supported the proposed UK restrictive licensing scheme for certain vulnerable species of shellfish, but 329W there was a great diversity of views on its practical implementation. In the light of this, DEFRA officials are currently discussing the various elements with the other Fisheries Departments in the UK, with a view to an announcement on an appropriate way forward before the end of the year.
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of(a) fishing stock health and
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DEFRA interpretation of ACFM advice for TACs for 2002 Stock (species and ICES area) 2001 TAC (tonnes) 2002 TAC1 TAC change from 2001 to 2002 (percentage) a b c d Sandeels IIa NS 1,020,000 No advice — Herring I, II 851,500 853,000 +0.2 Herring IVa, b 265,000 265,000 to 303,000 Rollover to +14.3 Herring IVc, VIId — — — Herring Vb, VIaN, VIb 36,360 30,000 -17.5 Herring VIa (Clyde) 1,000 1,000 Rollover Herring VIIa 6,900 6,500 -5.8 Herring Vile, f 1,000 No advice — Herring VIIg-k 20,000 26,000 2-40.0 Herring Ha NS Ind. by-catch 36,000 23,000 to 50,000 -36.1 to +38.9 Cod IIa, NS 48,600 LPL — Cod Vb, VI, XII, XIV 3,700 LPL — Cod VIIa 2,100 LPL — Cod VIIb-k, VIII, IX, X 10,500 7,300 -30.5 Megrim IIa NS 2,700 No advice — Megrim Vb, VI, XII, XIV 4,360 4,360 Rollover Megrim VII 15,000 13,000 -13.3 Dab and Flounder IIa NS 27,060 No advice — Anglers IIa NS 14,130 10,000 -51.3 Anglers Vb, VI, XII, XIV 6,400 — — Anglers VII 21,700 15,520 -28.5 Haddock IIa, IV 61,000 112,000 +83.6 Haddock Vb, VI, XII, XIV 13,900 15,400 +10.8 Haddock VII, VIII, IX, X 12,000 8,000 -33.3 Haddock VIIa 2,700 1,200 -55.6 Whiting IIa, NS 29,700 45,000 +51.5 Whiting Vb, VI, XII, XIV 4,000 2,000 +50.0 Whiting VIIa 1,390 LPL — Whiting VIIb-k 21,000 32,200 +53.3 Hake IIa, NS 870 LPL — Hake Vb, VI, VII, XII, XIV 13,920 LPL — Blue whiting IIa NS 90,000 3— — Blue whiting Vb, VI, VII, XII, XIV 407,000 — — Blue whiting VIIIabde 26,500 — — Lemon sole and witch IIa NS 10,800 No advice — Nephrops IIa, NS 15,480 18,470 +19.3 Nephrops Vb, VI 11,340 11,300 -0.4 Nephrops VII 18,900 17,790 -5.9 Northern prawn IIa, NS 6,504 No advice — Plaice IIa, NS 78,000 77,000 -1.3 Plaice Vb, VI, XII, XIV 1,920 No advice — Plaice VIIa 2,000 2,800 -40.0 Plaice VIId, e 6,000 6,690 +11.5 Plaice VIIf, g 760 680 -10.5 Plaice VIIh, j, k 1,215 No advice — Pollack Vb, VI, XII, XIV 1,100 No advice — Pollack VII 17,000 No advice — Saithe IIa, IIIb, c, d, NS 87,000 135,000 +55.2 Saithe Vb, VI, XII, XIV 9,000 13,000 +44.4 Saithe VII, VIII, IX, X 5,600 No advice — Turbot and brill IIa NS 7,200 No advice — Skate and rays IIa NS 4,848 No advice — Mackerel IIa(EC), III, IV 625,000 652,000 +4.3 Mackerel Ha (nonEC), Vb. VI, VII, VIIIabde, XII, XIV — — 2DIV/0 Sole II, NS 19,000 14,300 -24.7 Sole Vb, VI, XII, VIX 140 No advice — Sole VIIa 1,100 1,100 Rollover Sole VIId 4,600 5,200 +13.0 Sole VIIe 600 450 -25.0 viability and (b) indicative quota for 2002 by (i) species and (ii) fishing area or zone. [15867]
§ Mr. MorleyIn October the Advisory Committee on Fisheries Management (ACFM) of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) produced its latest assessment of the state of fish stocks in the north east Atlantic. A summary of the assessment and its possible implications for quota levels for 2002 of stocks of interest to the United Kingdom follows:
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DEFRA interpretation of ACFM advice for TACs for 2002 Stock (species and ICES area) 2001 TAC (tonnes) 2002 TAC1 TAC change from 2001 to 2002 (percentage) a b c d Sole VIIf g 1,020 1,000 -2.0 Sole VIIh, j, k 650 No advice — Sprat IIa, NS 232,000 225,000 -3.0 Sprat VIId, e 12,000 12,000 Rollover Spurdog IIa, NS 9,070 No advice — Horse mackerel IIa, NS 51,000 18,000 -64.7 Horse mackerel Vb, VI, VII, Villa, b, d, e, XII, XIV 240,000 98,000 -59.2 1 As recommended by ACFM (tonnes) 2 TAC recommendation for first half of 2002 only. ICES will provide a 3 Closure until a rebuilding plan is agreed Note:
LPL—Lowest Possible Limit
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of progress in meeting the objectives of the cod recovery programme in the North sea. [15870]
§ Mr. MorleyGood progress has been made. Commission Regulation 259/2001 established areas which are closed to most types of fishing between 14 February and 30 April 2001 to allow the maximum possible number of cod to spawn. We will not be able to asses how successful this has been before spring 2003 when the cod spawned should be large enough to be found in significant numbers in ground fish surveys.
The second part of the cod recovery plan puts in place a package of longer term technical conservation measures to promote recovery of North sea cod. These measures come into effect on 1 January 2002.
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to extend the work of the(a) Irish Sea Management Committee, (b) cod recovery programme and (c) hake recovery programme. [15868]
§ Mr. MorleyWe are not aware of an Irish Sea Management Committee. Fisheries are managed at European Union level under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
The Government, with UK fishermen, played a significant role in reaching agreement within the EU on packages of measures to promote recovery of Irish sea, North sea and West of Scotland cod and Northern hake.
We expect proposals shortly from the Commission for further measures on recovery of hake and cod and stand ready to play a full part in negotiating them.