§ Mr. David PorterTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the duties and powers of the Eastern sea fisheries committee and its financial structure; and what changes he is planning.
§ Mr. CurryThe powers and duties of local fisheries committees are laid down in the Sea Fisheries Regulation Act 1966, as amended. These principally concern the management and regulation of sea fisheries and shellfish fisheries and undertaking the necessary related enforcement.
The Eastern sea fisheries committee is one of 12 such committees in England and Wales and its district extends from Donna Nook in Lincolnshire to Dovercourt in Essex and seawards between these two points for three miles. Forty per cent. of its funding comes from Norfolk county council and 30 per cent. each from Lincolnshire and Suffolk county councils.
We have no plans to change these arrangements. However, we are considering the results of consultation on a proposal from the Association of Sea Fisheries Committees for a general extension of the seaward limit of sea fisheries committee jurisdiction from three to six miles.