§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proposals he has for phasing out industrial fishing; and whether he will make it his policy for decomissioning grants to be concentrated on this area to reduce effort.
§ Mr. CurryThere is as yet insufficient evidence to win an argument in the Council of Ministers that industrial fishing harms human consumption fisheries and should be phased out. In the United Kingdom industrial fishery the Shetland sandeel fishery was closed in 1990 and remains shut. Access to the west coast of Scotland sandeel fishery is restricted by licence. The bycatch of human consumption species in industrial fisheries is considerably smaller than the discards of juvenile fish from the white fish fisheries. Very few United Kingdom vessels are involved in industrial fishing. Decommissioning funds will be used to target effort in order to maximise the value for money of the public funds available. All applications for decommissioning grants will be evaluated using the same criteria. Decommissioning funds will be used to target effort in order to maximise the value for money of the public funds available. All applications for decommissioning grants will be evaluated using the same criteria.