§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment1300W has been made of the effect on younger fish in a fishery where the stocks are significantly below the optimum economic carrying capacity of a relatively high proportion of large cod, where all other factors are constant. [150919]
§ Mr. BradshawThe effect of this factor is likely to be very small, because the proportion of large cod in the North Sea cod stock is actually very low, and large cod do not usually compete with small cod for the same species or size of food organisms, so that releasing adult food does not necessarily benefit small fish.
§ Ann WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what escape behaviour(a) haddock and (b) whiting exhibit to avoid towing gear. [150090]
§ Mr. BradshawMost fish (including haddock and whiting) tend to be herded to the mouth of the net. Once at or near to the mouth of the trawl the fish turn and swim in the same direction as the trawl for a period of time.
When a fish becomes tired it usually will fall back into the trawl cod end. In falling back into the trawl, haddock tend to rise upwards as well as backwards. Whiting also tend to rise up when falling back but not as far as haddock.
Many fish will also swim for a period inside the cod end. Both whiting and haddock will actively try and escape through large meshes or escape panels if they are fitted in or near to the cod end and if the fish have the energy to do so.
§ Ann WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the ground gear specifications are for a GOV trawl. [150121]
§ Mr. BradshawThe GOV trawl is a general purpose trawl with a high headline of 5–6 metres. The design, specification and operation of the GOV trawl are agreed internationally and co-ordinated by International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the relationship is between the size of herring stocks and the health of cod fisheries in the North Sea, with reference to(a) the fishing effort directed at and (b) stock levels of sand eels. [150476]
§ Mr. BradshawThe North Sea herring stock collapsed because of the very high rate of fishing by the unregulated herring fishery in the 1960s, but recovered quite rapidly when the fishery was closed. The herring collapsed well before the principal increase in sandeel fishing effort. The main factor in the decline of the cod stock since the 1970s is the high fishing rate on cod, coupled with reduced cod recruitment since the 1980s. This occurred during a period when sandeel abundance fluctuated but did not decline.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the safety implications arising from the designation of the restricted fishing area in the North Sea in respect of vessels being required to dump haddock catch when they enter the area to avoid bad weather. [152168]
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§ Mr. BradshawThe cod protection area established at the December 2003 Council does not cover waters within 12 miles of the coast and thus excludes the areas in which vessels in bad weather are mostly likely to seek refuge; any vessels with a special haddock permit that do seek refuge in the offshore cod protection area will be required to cease their fishing activities until they have left the area again, but they will not be required to dump their haddock catch.