§ Sir Hector Monroasked the Minister of Agriculture Fisheries, and Food what was the outcome of the Council of Fisheries Ministers' meeting held on Thursday 24 May; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacGregorTogether with my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland I represented the United Kingdom at the Fisheries Council 561W meeting in Brussels yesterday. The outcome of the Council was satisfactory from the United Kingdom point of view.
The Council decided, in the light of the scientific advice and the state of discussions with Norway, to extend provisional quotas for the member states for North sea herring up to a total quantity of 155,000 tonnes to be taken in the Community's zone in 1984. The United Kingdom quota will be 35,720 tonnes in accordance with the allocation formula agreed last December. This arrangement is intended not to prejudice in any way the continuing negotiations with Norway over the total allowable catch for the North sea as a whole for 1984 and the respective Community and Norwegian allocations.
At our request, the Council agreed to increase the United Kingdom quota for monkfish from 5,500 tonnes to 7,000 tonnes in the light of the revision of our previous catch statistics; the Commission will submit proposals as soon as possible on the TACs for plaice in the Bristol channel and Irish sea herring (Man stock) in the light of the scientific advice. This should lead to welcome increases in our quotas for these stocks.
After discussing the Commission's proposals for changes in the regulation on technical conservation measures, the Council decided, in the light of the latest available information, to postpone the increase in the whitefish mesh size in the North sea to 90mm until 1 January 1987. Decisions on possible derogations for certain species will be taken by 31 December 1985. This decision is a realistic one in present circumstances and will be welcomed by the United Kingdom industry as a whole.
On beam trawling within 12 miles of coasts, on which there has been considerable concern on the part of our inshore fishermen, I argued that the Commission's proposals were not strong enough, and it was agreed to give further consideration to the possibility of new restrictions, such as beam length or vessel length.
I resisted strong Danish pressure for Council agreement to the Commission's proposal for a relaxation of the by-catch limits on the Norway pout fishery. The Council set a deadline of 15 September for a decision on this question and on the proposed revised catch limits for North sea sprat, taking account of the difficulties encountered by Danish fishermen. This does not commit us to any specific changes in the existing rules. The Commission's other proposals on technical conservation will be the subject of further study with a view to early decisions.