§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many United Kingdom vessels have been engaged in(a) gill net fisheries and (b) tangle net fisheries in United Kingdom waters in each year since 1988.
§ Mr. JackAvailable information relates only to vessels with an overalll length exceeding 10 m. In 1992, 18 United Kingdom fishing vessels reported using tangle nets and 352 vessels reported using gill nets at least once. Corresponding figures for 1988 are 26 and 226 respectively. Information for all the years requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what length of(a) monofilament netting and (b) other fishing gear has been lost or discarded by United Kingdom fishermen in United Kingdom waters in each year since 1988;
(2) what measures her Department has adopted to monitor and regulate the loss and discard of fishing nets in United Kingdom waters.
§ Mr. JackNo information is available about the quantities of netting or fishing gear lost or discarded. Discard of all types of fishing gear at sea is an offence unless undertaken in accordance with a licence under part II of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985.
§ Mr. AingerTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what measures her Department has adopted to monitor the impact of fisheries using set monofilament gill nets and tangle nets in United Kingdom waters on(a) target species and (b) non-target species including marine mammals;
(2) what measures her Department has taken to monitor the distribution and effect of monofilament gill net and tangle net fisheries in the United Kingdom in order to qualify the risk of by-catches of marine mammals.
§ Mr. JackFishing practice varies in the waters around the United Kingdom but monofilament gill nets and tangle nets are widely used. These fisheries are monitored for catch and effort by the fisheries departmentss and the results are included in the relevant stock assessments.MAFF has commissioned work to examine the distribution, character, catch and effort in gill and tangle net fisheries for both target and non-target species. On 1 January 1992, the fisheries departments introduced a voluntary scheme for fishermen to report incidental catches of marine mammals including the location of the incident and the type of fishing activity involved.