HC Deb 15 November 1990 vol 180 cc202-3W
Mr. Harris

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what changes he proposes to make to the conditions attached to fishing licences, in the light of the judgments of the European Court of Justice in the Agegate and Jaderow cases.

Mr. Curry

The Agegate and Jaderow proceedings were originally commenced against the Department in 1986 in order to challenge the validity of the fish licensing conditions designed to procure the proper implementation of the quota system under the common fisheries policy. In the course of those proceedings our courts referred certain legal questions to the European Court of Justice. The European Court of Justice delivered its judgments on 14 December 1989 and the matter is to return to the English divisional court.

The ECJ judgments cast doubt on the validity of the crewing condition in its present form but upheld our right to have an operating condition provided that certain rights were respected. We have been considering what changes need to be made to our licence conditions in the light of these judgments. At present we are minded to tighten up the operating conditions in order to improve compliance and to make enforcement easier. This will probably entail conditions such as the following applying to all vessels which do not land at least half their annual catch in the United Kingdom.

  1. (i) they will make at least four visits to United Kingdom ports in each half year (January-June and July-December);
  2. (ii) vessels to give at least 24 hours' notice of each visit, and to stay in port for at least eight hours; and
  3. (iii) there should be a minimum period of 10 days between "qualifying visits".

The licence condition concerning the nationality and residence of crew members would probably be dropped, except in respect of non-EC nationals, as might the condition concerning social security payments (since this is covered elsewhere by Community law and the obligation to pay social security continues irrespective of whether there is a licence condition to that effect).

These changes would have important implications for the Agegate and Jaderow cases and we have discussed them at their request with representatives of the Spanish fishing industry who have indicated that they accept that we were entitled to ensure that there is a real economic link between their vessels and the British fishing industry and to impose an effective operating condition. They have also indicated their intention to employ at least two British crewmen on their vessels, in addition to the British skipper and mate, and to land fish in British ports on at least two occasions in each half year. These discussions are very encouraging.

The registration requirements in respect of fishing vessels contained in part II of the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 will, subject to the interim orders of the European Court and the House of Lords, continue in force. This means, in particular, that fishing vessels may be registered here—and thus fish against British quotas—only if each vessel is managed, and its operations are directed and controlled from within the United Kingdom. The cases in the European Court challenging the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 will be vigorously contested by the Government. An oral hearing will take place at the European Court on 17 January 1991.

Fisheries Departments will in due course be issuing a detailed notice about the new licence conditions and licences will be amended with effect from 1 January 1991.

These amended conditions would contribute towards the objective of ensuring that British licensed fishing vessels have a real link with this country.