§ Andrew MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of(a) dolphins and (b) porpoises killed each year (i) by British fishing vessels, (ii) in British waters, (iii) by vessels of other European Union countries and (iv) in European Union waters; and if she will make a statement. [156216]
§ Mr. BradshawOn the basis of research conducted on behalf of Defra by the Sea Mammal Research Unit, estimates have been made of bycatch in UK fisheries. In the offshore bass fishery total bycatches are of the order of 90 dolphins per year, which represents less than 0.1 per cent. of the most recent estimate of common dolphin abundance in the south-west. Annual porpoise bycatch totals for gill net and tangle net fisheries in the south west cannot be determined at present, but bycatch rates estimates are likely to be in the region of 500 porpoises per year. Porpoise bycatch estimates for the North Sea and the west of Scotland are around 490 animals per year.
However, bycatch information from other member states whose vessels operate in these fisheries and elsewhere around the UK is not available so it is not possible to produce reliable estimates of dolphin and porpoise bycatch deaths within the UK 200-mile limit. In particular, it should be noted that UK vessels in the offshore bass fishery in the south west represent only a small proportion of the total effort in the fishery.