§ Mr. Steenasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will ban the use of trawlers using dredges with teeth with engines capable of more than 300 hp within the 12-mile fishing limit;
(2) what steps he is taking to review the damage caused to traditional fishing and trawler grounds and the seabed within the 3-mile limit as a result of the use of dredges off the south Devon coast;
(3) if he will introduce legislation to bring dredging into line with the current legislation applicable to beam trawlers within the 12-mile fishing limit;
(4) if he will ban the use of trawlers using dredges and displacement of over 70 tonnes within the 12-mile fishing limit;
(5) if he will ban the use of dredges with teeth for fish within the 12-mile limit.
§ Mr. MacGregor[pursuant to his reply, 19 December 1983]: Responsibility for legislation on fisheries conservation rests with the Community, except in the case of national measures applying to the fishermen of a single member state, which also require the approval of the Commission: the provisions applicable to beam trawling within the 12-mile limit, to which my hon. Friend refers, are found in regulations adopted by the Council of Ministers. We therefore are not in a position to introduce 167W sweeping bans of the kind which he mentions, even if there were objective evidence of significant damage to stocks and grounds by the use of scallop dredges. I am not aware of any such evidence at present, but I am instructing the Department to take a further and thorough look into this matter in the light of the recent representations received from my hon. Friend and others. This will inevitably take some time and, given the Community dimension, I can make no promises about the outcome.