§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the effect of(a) a plentiful food supply and (b) the absence of a relative abundance of competitive fish species on the predation habits of large cod. [150914]
§ Mr. BradshawRobust conclusions about such questions are difficult to make because the ecology of the North sea is complex and variable, and cod can eat a broad spectrum of food items. The current low level of cod abundance suggests that over the North Sea as a whole cod are unlikely to be food limited, although one cannot exclude the possibility of periodic local effects. As top predators, there are relatively few species with which large cod are likely to be in direct competition.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if her Department will carry out simulation modelling of cod stocks, in respect of ICES areas IVa and IVb, which show the effect of(a) reducing the numbers of large adult cod from the overall biomass, (b) reducing inter-species competitive pressure and (c) increasing food supplies. [150915]
§ Mr. BradshawExisting models already show that the removal of large fish from the stock increases the threat to recruitment and hence further increase the threat of stock collapse. Multi-species models are still being developed by ICES. Results to date suggest that cannibalism, predation and food supply may have some affects on the cod stock, but they do not affect the overall conclusions of the North sea cod assessment, or the associated advice.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the optimal stock level of cod in a fishery, relative to the carrying capacity of the fisheries, which will(a) produce the highest rates of biomass increase and (b) optimise the economic yield of the fishery. [150917]
§ Mr. BradshawOptimal exploitation and economic yield require a low fishing mortality rate which for North sea cod is likely to be about F=0.20 to 0.25. This is three to four times lower than the average fishing mortality assessed over the last decade.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will propose to the Fisheries Council a package of measures based on selective fishing techniques aimed at reducing cod by-catch in haddock fisheries. [150938]
§ Mr. BradshawInvestigations are still continuing into selective fishing techniques in mixed fisheries. In particular, the three-year EU funded Recovery project is looking at reducing cod by-catch in several fisheries. We await the outcome of that project which could lead to further measures being proposed for selective fishing.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the effect on the yield of a cod fishery is of high level recruitment of juveniles; and what effect regulating juvenile mortality has on the overall productivity of a fishery. [150946]
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§ Mr. BradshawA high number of 1 and 2 year old cod recruiting to the fishable stock first results in higher catches of immature cod, followed later by increased abundance and landings of adults.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effect of the closure of a cod fishery on the distribution of fish within the age classes in the fishery when the initial closure is precipitated by declining stocks of large fish. [150947]
§ Mr. BradshawAs part of the work of the EU Scientific Technical and Economic Committee, scientists evaluated the effect of the closed area for North Sea cod in the 2001 spawning season, and they showed that there was little significant benefit to the spawning potential of cod in 2001. Studies showed that fishing effort was diverted to areas with a lower density of cod, including areas that were ecologically sensitive, but then moved back once the closure ceased. It was concluded that the box would have to be extended in both space and time in order to be more effective.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what input she has to the research priorities of the Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour Working Group. [150940]
§ Mr. BradshawNational scientists can contribute to the initial working group discussions on priorities and terms of reference, which can then be reviewed and amended by ICES at the Gear and Behaviour Committee and the Consultative Committee, before final approval by the ICES Council, where national delegates can have their say.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will press for regulations to structure quota allocations to individual vessels to ensure that species allocated are grouped by escape behaviour. [150913]
§ Mr. BradshawNo. We are not aware of any methodology which would allow such an allocation on a systematic coherent basis. To some degree current market mechanisms allow quota transfer to reduce any imbalances.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether stocks of fish are naturally variable. [150918]
§ Mr. BradshawYes.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many United Kingdom scientists are(a) attached to and (b) members of the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour Working Group. [150242]
§ Mr. BradshawThe 2003 Working Group on Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour was attended by gear scientists and behaviour scientist from FRS Aberdeen (six), CEFAS Lowestoft (two), and gear technologists from the SFIA (two).
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) what mechanisms there are for the accurate measurement of 1115W discards from commercial fishing fleets in UK waters; and whether different techniques are applied to catches from non-UK registered vessels; [150245]
(2) what representations she has made to the European Commission and the Fisheries Council on the banning of discards; [150298]
(3) what mechanisms exist to prevent fishermen who catch quantities of fish in excess of their by-catch allowances from discarding the excess. [150319]
§ Mr. BradshawUnder the EU Data Regulation, national fisheries scientists undertake a programme of regional discard measurement at sea on a range of UK commercial fishing vessels, and similar programmes are undertaken by other member states on their vessels.
Discarding occurs when fisheries unavoidably catch small fish below the minimum landing size, or fish that are caught in excess of individual species quotas in a mixed fishery. The discard problem is under regular review, but a ban on discards is not yet considered to be practicable.
The European Commission published an action plan in November 2002 which suggested a number of options to reduce discarding, including consideration in the medium term of a discards ban. The UK and other member states have welcomed the Commission's intention to try out the ideas in its action plan through a series of pilot projects.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether it is possible, under current regulations and using permitted mesh sizes, to catch fish of a length below minimum landing sizes. [150248]
§ Mr. BradshawYes, but such fish may not be landed.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking to increase industry participation in the collection of data used for assessments of the levels of fish stocks. [150313]
§ Mr. BradshawA range of activities involve industry participation in the collection or interpretation of fisheries data. These include the formal collection of data on landings, fishing effort and discards; data collected on a range of chartered commercial fishing voyages during 2003–04 under a DEFRA-NFFO-CEFAS Fisheries Science Partnership programme; and an on-going dialogue about stock assessment and management between fishermen and scientists at meetings of the North Sea Fisheries Commission Partnership. ICES is currently investigating the role of industry data through the Study Group on the Incorporation of Additional Information from the Fishing Industry into Fish Stock Assessments (SGFI), which is attended by departmental scientists.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what progress she has made in the introduction of compulsory sorting grids in bottom trawls used for industrial fisheries to reduce the by-catch of juvenile round fish. [150314]
§ Mr. BradshawIn some Industrial fisheries, such as for North Sea sandeels, by-catch of juvenile round fish is believed to be low. In others there is a range of options which can be used to reduce by-catch e.g. closed areas or closed seasons. At present there are no plans to require the use of compulsory sorting grids in the industrial fisheries.
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§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the last full meeting of the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour Working Group was held: and if she will place a copy of its report in the Library. [150315]
§ Mr. BradshawThe last full meeting of the ICES-FAO Working Group on Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour, which deals with a range of gear and behaviour issues in the ICES area, took place on 27–28 June 2003 at Bergen, in Norway. A copy of the report has been placed in the Library.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the basis is for measurement of by-catch. [150320]
§ Mr. BradshawThe permitted percentage of by-catches by weight are specified in the technical conservation regulations, according to the fishing area, fishery, and mesh size.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her definition of grey fish is. [150478]
§ Mr. BradshawGrey or blackfish is the colloquial. expression used to describe undeclared, mis-reported or mis-recorded landings of fish, usually of quota stocks.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimated carrying capacity, represented by biomass tonnage, is of cod in the(a) North Sea and (b) International Council for the Exploration of the Seas areas IVa and IVb. [150481]
§ Mr. BradshawCurrent fishery models predict that to reach a low level of fishing mortality consistent with optimal use of the cod stock requires a sustained five-fold reduction in the fishing rate, and could produce an average SSB long term that is 10 times higher than at the present fishing rate. This would be about 550,000 tonnes if the number of young cod entering the stock does not change from the current level. It is not possible to provide separate estimates for sub areas of the North Sea.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimates are of cod biomass in(a) the North Sea and (b) International Council for the Exploration of the Seas areas IVa and IVb. [150483]
§ Mr. BradshawThe ICES estimate of the 2003 spawning stock biomass (SSB), comprising fish of mature age, was 53,000 tonnes. The Advisory Committee on Fishery Management regards this figure as uncertain owing to concerns about the accuracy of recent landings data. ICES does not provide separate estimates for areas IVa and IVb.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the effect of high mortality in large cod is on the(a) survival and (b) growth rates of juvenile cod. [150484]
§ Mr. BradshawRemoving adult cod is expected to have relatively little effect on the survival or growth rates of juvenile cod, but could significantly affect the production of eggs.
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§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the main cause is of mortality in juvenile cod in the North Sea.[150485]
§ Mr. BradshawICES reports that for ages 0 and one, the majority of mortality is natural (predation by other fish species, seals and seabirds, disease etc) and that for ages two and over most mortality is caused by fishing.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment her Department has made of the use of separator trawls as a means of reducing by-catches on non-target species in mixed fisheries; and what regulations govern their use. [150487]
§ Mr. BradshawSeparator trawls have been investigated to separate haddock, whiting and saithe from cod, flatfish, monkfish and nephrops. Some promising results have been obtained but much depends on correct rigging of the net. The use of separator trawls is not required generally in UK or EU regulations but a type of separator trawl is required for vessels wishing to fish in part of the area closed during the Irish Sea cod spawning season.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of the implications for the sustainability of a fishery of concentrating on the catching of immature fish and leaving the bulk of mature adults untouched. [150948]
§ Mr. BradshawA heavy immature fishery reduces the number of fish that survive to maturity, and therefore diminishes the replacement of the existing mature spawning stock. Even if mature fish were not exploited their numbers would therefore dwindle in the long term.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the effect is of catching(a) mature cod and (b) other species on the survival of juvenile and immature stocks, with particular reference to those which have reached sexual maturity and survived two spawning seasons. [149127]
§ Mr. BradshawCatching large mature cod reduces the total egg production of the adult cod stock. To ensure sustainability of the cod and its fisheries a sufficient amount of mature cod need to breed (currently the advice is for 150,000 tonnes in the North sea). At lower levels of mature stock the production of young cod is put at risk.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs under what circumstances the North sea sand eel quota would be reduced to below the level of the historic landing tonnage. [150848]
§ Mr. BradshawDecisions on Total Allowable Catches for sand eels—as for other quota stocks—are taken annually by EU Fisheries Ministers on the basis of advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). If the scientific evidence suggests that TACs and quotas should be set below the level of historic catches, the UK would support this. The provisions on North sea sand eels agreed at the December Council of Ministers include not only reduced quota for 2004 but also new effort regulations to improve management of the stock.
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§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the characteristics of the gear used by the Scottish white fish fleet are in terms of its selectivity in catching cod and haddock. [149117]
§ Mr. BradshawThe selectivity of both cod and haddock in trawls and pair seines is determined mainly by codend design, the most important characteristics of which are mesh size, twine size, presence of a strengthening bag and other elements of construction. The current legislation on technical measures for the North sea provides selectivity which is appropriate for haddock but is less satisfactory for cod which mature at a larger size.