§ Lord Stoddart of Swindonasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many ships in Britain's registered fishing fleet are British-owned.
§ Viscount GoschenThis is an operational matter for the Marine Safety Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive, Mr. Robin Bradley, to write to the noble Lord.
Letter to Lord Stoddart of Swindon from the Chief Executive of the Marine Safety Agency, Mr. R. M. Bradley, dated 22 February 1995.
Viscount Goshen has asked me to reply to your Question regarding the number of British owned fishing vessels in the UK registered fleet.
Following the introduction of the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Regulations 1993 in March 1994, this information is no longer available. It is still possible to identify the nationality of individual owners but many fishing vessels are owned by companies and the nationality of the shareholders of these companies cannot be ascertained.
Prior to March 1994, the Merchant Shipping Act 1988 provided that corporate owners of fishing vessels registered in the UK had to be made up mainly of qualified shareholders. A company had therefore to complete a declaration that its shareholding complied with the Act. With the introduction of the 1993 Act, the only requirement for eligibility in respect of companies is that they be incorporated in a member state of the European Economic Area, and have a place of business in the UK. As a result of this change, it is no longer necessary to know the nationality of the shareholders and no such information is collected.