Mackerel (Hansard, 3 February 1992)

§ Mr. Morley
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will allocate an extra sectoral mackerel quota to the Falmouth mackerel handliners.

§ Mr. Curry
No. Allocations for 1992 will be based on track records as agreed by the industry. However, in view of the increase in the western mackerel total allowable catch for 1992, the allocation for the handliners this year should be about 1,900 tonnes, which is a 39 per cent. increase over the initial 1991 allocation of 1,365 tonnes.

§ Mr. Morley
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps he is taking to ensure that(a) all trawlers within the south-west mackerel box are inspected to ensure that they are not taking more than their allocated mackerel by-catch and (b) that any fishing boat within the south-west mackerel box is entitled to operate there.

§ Mr. Curry
During the mackerel fishery season normal levels of fishery inspection in the south-west mackerel box are stepped up with an additional fishery surveillance vessel being employed. Prosecutions are taken in the event of contraventions being found.

§ Mr. Morley
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the south-west mackerel conservation box in protecting the dedicated mackerel fishery.

§ Mr. Curry
Research carried out last year by the Department indicated that there were a high percentage of juvenile mackerel present in the box. Both the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea and the European Community Commission's scientific and technical committee on fisheries recommended that the box should remain in place to protect this important element of the western mackerel stock. I welcome the European Community decision to make the box a permanent arrangement.

§ Mr. Morley
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food whether he will take steps within the EC to ban industrial fishing within the south-west mackerel box.

§ Mr. Curry
There is at present no scientific evidence to suggest that the current level of permitted fishing in the south-west mackerel box causes damage to the mackerel stock. The situation is kept under constant review.