HC Deb 23 May 1989 vol 153 cc471-3W
Mr. Salmond

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his assessment of the current financial position of the fishing industry; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Donald Thompson

After a series of good years the United Kingdom fishing industry is on a strong financial footing. Although landings so far this year are down compared with 1988, their average value remains high. And fuel prices, a major cost item for most fishermen, have fallen substantially over the past five years.

Mr. Salmond

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what has been the level of third country fish imports since the beginning of the current year; and what assessment he has made of possible breaches of the reference pricing system.

Mr. Donald Thompson

Imports of fresh, chilled and frozen fish from countries outside the European Community in the first three months of 1989 were 47,552 tonnes at a value of £59 million. A small number of consignments have been below the reference price but none has been significant enough to trigger Community action .

Mr. Salmond

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what will be the areas of priority in the fishing industry which he will seek to raise at the Council of Ministers on 21 June; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Donald Thompson

There are a number of issues of concern to the industry which I expect to be discussed by the Council and I will take a view on what else I need to raise when I see the draft agenda.

Mr. Salmond

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on tonnage and horsepower in the United Kingdom fishing fleet and on how these relate to the targets accepted by Her Majesty's Government under the multi-annual guidance programme.

Mr. Donald Thompson

The size of the United Kingdom fishing fleet, as at 1 January 1989, was 174,774 gross

the definition of British as set out by the Department of Trade and Industry in its arrangement on content with the European Community.

Mr. Ian Stewart

[holding answer 17 April 1989]: The information available is as follows:

registered tonnage (GRT) and 890,995 kilowatts (kw) (1,211,753 horsepower). Under our multi-annual guidance programme the United Kingdom is obliged to reduce fleet capacity to 161,231 GRT and 831,708 kw by the end of this year, to 150,336 GRT and 785,340 kw by the end of 1990, and to 141,620 GRT and 748,245 kw by the end of the programme on 31 December 1991.

Mr. Salmond

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will reconsider the decision to grant an extension of registration and licensing facilities to the flags-of-convenience vessels currently under legal debate; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Donald Thompson

There has been no decision to grant an extension of registration to any flag-of-convenience vessels. With effect from 1 April 1989 any vessels which failed to satisfy the new registration rules for fishing vessels under part II of the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 have been removed from the register, and cannot lawfully fish against United Kingdom quotas.

Provided they do not fish in the meantime, the owners of those vessels party to the legal challenge to the new registration rules (in the Factortame case) have until 1 October 1989 to transfer their licences upon the sale of the vessels to genuine British owners who meet the new registration rules.

Mr. Salmond

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what further consideration he has given to the introduction of a scheme of decommissioning of the fishing fleet under European Community regulation No. 4028/86.

Mr. Donald Thompson

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave on Monday 22 May to the hon. Member for Greenock and Port Glasgow (Dr. Godman), at column372.

Mr. Salmond

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on licensing policy for the United Kingdom fishing fleet.

Mr. Donald Thompson

Access to United Kingdom quota species continues to be governed by the restrictive licensing scheme first introduced in 1984 and subsequently amended on several occasions. Fisheries Departments are considering whether further amendments might be desirable in the light of the wide-ranging and diverse responses from the fishing industry to our consultation exercise last year.