HC Deb 31 July 1998 vol 317 cc729-30W
Dr. George Turner

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what offers of compensation have been and then re-registered as under-10m vessels; and how many prosecutions there have been in respect of this practice. [53603]

Mr. Morley

[holding answer 30 July 1998]: A restrictive licensing scheme has operated for vessels of 10m and under since May 1993. Any one who wishes to bring a vessel into the under-10m fleet, including a vessel which has been reduced in length from over-10m, must acquire a licence from an existing under-10m vessel. Moreover the tonnage, engine power and vessel capacity units (VCUs) of the incoming vessel must not be greater than that of the vessel that is being replaced. The aggregation of licences is permitted up to a maximum of 100 VCUs per transaction.

Within the UK there are currently some 5,200 under-10m fishing vessels licensed by the Fisheries Departments including 978 vessels licensed by the Ministry's fisheries office at Hastings and its sub office at Poole covering the coastline from Dartford in Kent to Lyme Regis in Dorset. There has not been an overall increase in the number of vessels licensed by the Hastings fisheries office since the introduction of restrictive licensing.

Examination of licensing transactions in 1996 and 1997 has indicated that some 50 vessels over-10m in overall length were shortened, re-registered and re-licensed as vessels under-10m in overall length. Twelve of the vessels were based within the area administered by the Hastings fisheries office. There have been no prosecutions against such vessels.

The quota allocations made to the under-10m fleet are based on the proportion of fish caught in the reference period 1994 to 1996. Most allocations are underpinned so that the proportion of fish allocated to the under-10m fleet is not less than the average proportion made available in the period 1991 to 1993. In 1998 nine out of twelve of the whitefish allocations made to the under-10m fleet in the English Channel have benefited from underpinning.

These arrangements, and the need for changes to them, are kept under review.