§ Sir Michael Shawasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether the present closure of the herring fishery in the northern and central North sea must continue.
§ Mr. JoplingFollowing the exhaustion of the provisional quotas established by the Council for herring in the northern and central North sea in May, fishing by Community vessels in these areas was prohibited. Fishing in the south North sea however opened on 1 October on the basis of the quotas rolled over from the 1982 regulation agreed in January. The United Kingdom quota is 21,000 tonnes out of a Community total of 68,000 tonnes.
I am glad now to be able to confirm that a proposal is expected to be adopted very shortly under which member states, including the United Kingdom, will be allowed up until 15 December, the day after the next Council meeting, to take a specified part of their "rollover" quota in the northern and central North sea instead of in the southern North sea. As an exceptional measure, reflecting the fact that Belgium did not benefit from the provisional quota allocations in May, she will be allowed to take an additional quantity of 1,000 tonnes up to the same date only. This decision will ensure a more rational pattern of herring fishing in the North sea as a whole this year and will be welcome to the pelagic sector of the United Kingdom fishing industry.
The position after 15 December will depend on any decisions taken by the Council at its next meeting.