§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the results of the current European drift net regulation limiting their length to 2.5 km.
§ Mr. JackThe derogation which allowed certain French vessels to use drift nets up to 5 km in length lapsed on 31 December 1993. Subsequently, all EU vessels have been required to use drift nets which do not exceed 2.5 km long—except in the Baltic which is managed by the International Baltic Sea Commission. This rule was applied in the north-east Atlantic fishery during the 1994 season, when French, Irish and United Kingdom vessels fished with draft nets. Subsequent consideration of this matter will be guided by the results of further scientific guidance.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (1) what is his policy on the motion agreed by the European Parliament on 29 September to ban the use of drift nets beyond EU member state's 12-mile zones; whether he expects this proposal to be raised at the next Fisheries Council meeting; and if he will make a statement;
(2) what plans there are to improve the enforcement of current regulations on the use of drift nets in European waters; and if he will make a statement;
(3) what plans there are to ban the use of drift nets in European waters; if he will be supporting these; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. JackThe Government's view is that drift nets up to 2.5 km long should continue to be legally acceptable both in coastal waters and elsewhere in the absence of scientific evidence that demonstrates a case for a ban; but that there is no justification for nets to be used which are more than 2.5 km long. The European Parliament's view that drift nets used in member state's 12-mile limit should be specifically authorised by the Commission appears to be unnecessarily bureaucratic and inconsistent with subsidiarity. We support cost-effective and practical enforcement arrangements, and discussions on this will take place before next year's fishery opens.
Decisions on the Commission's proposal are not expected to be made by the Council in the advance of further work which has been commissioned from the EU's scientific technical and economic committee on fisheries which is scheduled to meet in December.
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§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what research has been carried out into the social effects on traditional fishing communities of the use of drift nets in European waters;
(2) what research has been carried out into the effects of the use of drift nets in European waters on the population of (a) the striped dolphin and (b) other marine wildlife.
§ Mr. JackI am not aware of any research into the social effects on traditional fishing communities of the use of drift nets in European Waters, although the Commission's report on drift nets issued in April 1994 refers to the difficulties that certain communities would experience if drift netting was to be banned, because they are so dependent on drift net fisheries. IFREMER, the French marine research institute, reported last year on its research work into the effects of drift nets on a range of marine creatures including striped dolphins.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many drift nets in use by(a) United Kingdom, (b) Irish,(c) French and (d) Spanish fishing vessels were measured by the north-east Atlantic tuna fishery this summer; which was the longest drift net recorded and how many times it was measured; how and by whom this net was measured (i) at sea and (ii) on land; and what lengths were recorded on each occasion.
§ Mr. JackThe only information of net measurement that we hold is carried out by the United Kingdom fisheries inspectorate. We measured 13 nets. The longest net recorded was 3 km.