§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will provide the monthly figures for boardings by British fishery protection vessels within Great Britain's 200-mile limit, and for successful prosecutions subdivided by the nationality and by the size of the vessels arrested for 1978, 1977 and 1976.
§ Mr. Bishop:In 1976, United Kingdom fishery limits extended to only 12 miles and figures are not available for the number of boardings carried out that year either within the 12-mile limit or within the waters now covered by United Kingdom fishery limits.
The following tables give monthly figures for boarding by United Kingdom fishery protection vessels within United Kingdom fishery limits in 1977 and 1978
CONVICTIONS FOR OFFENCES AGAINST UNITED KINGDOM FISHERIES REGULATIONS SHOWING NATIONALITY AND GROSS REGISTERED TONNAGE OF FISHING VESSELS CONCERNED Fishing vessel's nationality Gross registered tonnage 1976 0–100 101–200 201–300 301–400 401–500 Over 500 Total Denmark … — 1 — — — — 1 France … — 2 — — — — 2 Netherlands … — — — 1 — — 1 Republic of Ireland … 3 1 — — — — 4 United Kingdom … 3 — — — — — 3 USSR … — — — — — 2 2 — — — — — — — Totals … 6 4 — — 1 2 13 — — — — — — — 656W
Fishing vessel's nationality Gross registered tonnage 1977 0–100 101–200 201–300 301–400 401–500 Over 500 Total Belgium … 1 — — — — — 1 Denmark … — 3 2 1 — — 6 Faeroes … — — 1* — — — 1 France … 4 — 2 — — — 6 Netherlands … — 1 — 2 — 1 4 Republic of Ireland … 8 — — — — — 8 Spain … 1 3 10 1 2 — 17 Sweden … — — 2 — — — 2 United Kingdom … 28 — — — — — 28 USSR … — — — — — 1* 1 — — — — — — — Totals … 42 7 17 4 2 2 74 — — — — — — — *Estimated tonnage. and figures for convictions instigated by the fisheries Departments in 1976, 1977 and 1978 for offences against United Kingdom fisheries regulations broken down by the nationality and size of the fishing vessels concerned.
BOARDINGS BY UNITED KINGDOM FISHERY PROTECTION VESSELS 1977 1978 January … 110 152 February … 151 84 March … 36 172 April … 220 125 May … 266 158 June … 202 216 July … 129 176 August … 273 191 September … 138 199 October … 134 181 November … 96 87 December … 96 Not available Note:
Figures are not readily available for boardings broken down by the month in which the boardings took place. The above figures attribute boardings to the months in which they were recorded by the Fisheries Departments.
657W
Fishing vessel's nationality Gross registered tonnage 1978 0–100 101–200 201–300 301–400 401–500 Over 500 Total Belgium … 1 1 1 — — — 3 Denmark … — 1 — — — — 1 France … 4 2 2 — — 1 9 Spain … — 2 7 — — — 9 United Kingdom … 6 — — — — — 6 — — — — — — — Totals … 11 6 10 — — 1 28 — — — — — — — Note: A further 45, 25 and 18 skippers of United Kingdom fishing vessels were convicted in Scottish courts in 1976, 1977 and 1978 respectively of offences against United Kingdom fishery regulations, but details of the vessels' gross registered tonnage are not available.
§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many arrests and successful prosecutions there have been for infringements of British national fishery conservation measures.
§ Mr. Bishop:So far this year, 22 fishing vessels have been brought in by United Kingdom fishery protection vessels for further investigation. The skippers of all 22 vessels were subsequently convicted of offences against United Kingdom fishery regulations. The skippers of 24 other fishing vessels have been convicted during this year at the instigation of fisheries Departments of offences against United Kingdom fishery regulations following inspections carried out in port.