§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost to the United Kingdom is in 2003–04 of maintaining the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour Working Group. [150241]
§ Mr. BradshawIt is not possible to give the annual cost of maintaining the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour Working Group because the ICES budget does not separately identify individual working groups.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the financial contribution made by the United Kingdom Government to the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas was for each of the last five financial years; and what proportion of those contributions was spent on fisheries research. [150246]
§ Mr. BradshawThe United Kingdom Government contributed the following amounts:
Danish Krona 2003–04 1,425,600 2002–03 1,384,000 2001–02 1,354,000 2000–01 1,314,480 1999–2000 1,276,200 It is not possible to determine how much of the UK's contribution was spent on fisheries, research because the ICES budget does not separately identify such research. Individual countries' contributions are not allocated to specific areas of work.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has conducted into the extent to which the level of one fish stock is affected by the levels of fish stocks of similar species sharing the same habitat. [150304]
§ Mr. BradshawModels which look at the interaction between species are still being developed by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). However, the evidence to date suggests that, in most cases, the level of one species is a relatively minor factor in the level of similar species, due to the rich marine food webs.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the reasons are for the relative decline in cod biomass in the North Sea; and to what extent stocks have been affected by(a)long-term changes in sea temperatures, (b) predation and competition by other fish species, 134W (c) commercial exploitation of food supplies upon which cod stocks rely, (d) seals, (e) overfishing and (f) other factors. [150306]
§ Mr. BradshawScientists advise that over the last 20 years the fishing rate on cod has been five times that required to promote optimal use of the cod stock, and the fishery captures too many immature fish. On average less than 5 per cent. of each new brood now survives to maturity, and the cod age structure is very restricted. The stock is severely overfished, the biomass of mature fish has shown a prolonged decline, and the number of young cod entering the stock decreased in the mid-1980s.
The ICES Advisory Committee on Fishery Management (ACFM) advises that the reduction in recruitment can be at least partly explained by a reduction in the quantity and quality of eggs produced by a reduced spawning stock. There is speculation about the effect of environmental change and species interactions because of increased water temperature, and various contemporaneous changes in other species, but work carried out on these factors does not yet allow them to be quantified. ACFM notes that there may be some changes to the natural mortality of cod, such as a decrease on younger ages, possibly due to reduced cannibalism, and an increase on older ages due to seal predation, but the supporting evidence for these changes is weak.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what independent scientific advice she uses in relation to fisheries management; and if she will publish the advice she has received in relation to increased fishing effort for haddock while protecting cod stocks. [150307]
§ Mr. BradshawWe and other EU member states receive independent advice on fish stocks from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES). The latest such advice on haddock has already been published by ICES on their website: http//www.ices.dk/
The European Union's Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee on Fisheries has also considered the mixed cod and haddock fisheries but the European Commission has yet to publish its work.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the accuracy of scientific assessments of the levels of fish stocks. [150317]
§ Mr. BradshawICES stock assessments are carried out internationally using landings and biological and survey data that are analysed in a standard way by methods that are well-known and are accepted by the international fisheries science community. Results are dependent on the quality of the data, and on our understanding of biological processes in the sea. It is accepted that the data and the methods are not perfect, but they are the best available. Assessment results are reviewed within ICES by ACFM, as well as by the North Sea Fisheries Commission Partnership in the case of the North Sea stocks, and ACFM is further developing quality assurance and review processes.
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§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research she has commissioned on the effect of escape behaviour between different species on mortality rates for cod in North Sea fisheries. [150941]
§ Mr. BradshawDifferences in escape behaviour alone are not significant determinants of fishing mortality. The combination of escape behaviour and net design can be a factor and considerable research has been conducted into net designs which will, for example, reduce fishing mortality of juvenile cod. One option is to separate cod from other species within the trawl and then subject them to a different selection process (e.g. a larger mesh size) when they try to escape. Alternatively, it may be possible to design nets so that some species, including cod, avoid the net completely. Each fishery targeting different ranges of species may require a different complex design with the aim of catching the marketable species and releasing the unwanted species. Research is ongoing in the UK, in collaboration with commercial fishermen.
§ Andrew GeorgeTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many(a) EU, (b) UK and (c) French fisheries observers have spent research time on board (i) industrial trawlers, (ii) bass pair trawlers and (iii) other pelagic trawl fisheries vessels operating in areas (A) VII and (B) VIII in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement. [152856]
§ Mr. Bradshaw[holding answer 4 February 2004]: As part of Defra-funded research into cetacean bycatch, the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) carried out eight days of observations at sea in 2000, 25 days in 2001 and four in 2002 in the following UK pelagic fisheries in Area VII: mackerel, pilchard, whiting and anchovy.
In the offshore pair trawl fishery for bass in Area VII, SMRU undertook 72 days of observations in 2001, 40 days in 2002 and 87 in the spring of 2003. Further observations have been taking place in the bass fishery since December 2003 but data are not yet available. Defra does not hold records of observations undertaken by other member states in these areas.
In addition, observers from the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) undertook 13 days' monitoring of English or Welsh registered vessels fishing for pelagic species in 2003 in Area VII and Area VIII. This work, which observed about 33 hours fishing, met obligations under the EU discard monitoring programme. CEFAS also undertook monitoring in Area VIld in 2001 for a total of about 21 hours fishing.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment has been made of whether fishing effort managed by limiting days at sea, including the banning of discards, is an effective fisheries management tool. [150851]
§ Mr. BradshawScientific assessments have shown that fishing mortality on key species such as cod is too high in waters around the UK. Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and quotas on their own have not been effective in reducing fishing mortality to sustainable levels. In December 2002 and again in December 2003, EU Fisheries Ministers agreed limitations on days at sea to136W complement reductions in TACs—it is too early to assess what impact these restrictions will have had on fishing mortality.
A discards ban is a separate management tool to a days at sea scheme. At present 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 what research has been conducted on the effectiveness of hybrid systems which use total allowable catches, days at sea and individual species quotas [150852]
§ Mr. BradshawThere is no such research available applicable to EU waters because the EU has only recently introduced days at sea rules to support the Total allowable catches (TACs) set for cod and other threatened species. In the past, TACs alone have not been respected. It is too soon for research to show whether the new approach is more effective.