§ Mr. HayesTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fishing vessels there are in each EU applicant state capable of fishing in the North Sea. [128178]
§ Mr. BradshawUnder the outcome of the CFP review, fishing rights will continue to be based on the principle of relative stability. This means that none of the applicant countries will gain access to regulated fish stocks in EU waters, including the North Sea. Access will be limited to unregulated stocks outside the 12 mile limit. It is not possible to estimate the number of vessels that might fish in this area.
§ Mr. HayesTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many foreign nationals work on UK flagged fishing vessels. [128179]
§ Mr. BradshawInformation is not held on this subject by Defra or the other Fisheries Departments in the UK.
§ Mr. HayesTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what proportion of United Kingdom flagged fishing vessels(a) by tonnage, (b) by horse power and (c) in absolute terms are owned by foreign nationals. [128180]
§ Mr. BradshawThe information sought is set out in the following table.
UK registered vessels at 1 January 2003 UK registered foreign owened vessels as a proportion of the
UK total for:
Number of UK
registered
fishing
vessels
Number of UK
registered
foreign
owned
vessels
Fleet Number
Tonnage Engine Power
Over 10 metre vessels 1,805 1,21 6.7% 17.5% 16.8% All vessels 7,578 121 1.6% 16.0% 11.5% The Department does not maintain comprehensive records on the beneficial ownership of fishing vessels. The number of foreign owned vessels is based on advice from local port offices of the Fisheries Departments in the UK on the vessels that are considered to be partly or wholly owned by foreign interests. This information relates to vessels over 10 metres in overall length. Information is not held on vessels under 10 metres, in which we are not aware of any significant overseas interest.
§ Mr. HayesTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what European Community compensation(a) is available to and (b) has been taken up by the Government for UK fishermen affected by the 2002 days at sea limits.[128264]
§ Mr. BradshawUnder the Fisheries Structural Fund, grants co-financed by the EU may be made to fishermen for the temporary cessation of their activities. Where a recovery plan is adopted by the Council, compensation may last for one year, and may be extended by one further year. Where the financial contribution from the Structural Fund exceeds €1 million or 4 per cent. of the Community financial assistance for fisheries in the UK, the measure must include a decommissioning scheme,304W with the aim of removing vessels with fishing effort at least equal to the effort of the vessels for which compensation is given.
This provision is not being used in the UK, but the Scottish Executive is financing an equivalent scheme using national funding.
Community funding is also available for decommissioning vessels. Defra is awaiting clearance by the EU Commission of a scheme under the provision, and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for Northern Ireland has announced its intention to introduce a scheme. The Scottish Executive has implemented a parallel scheme with national funding.