§ Lord Actonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether unused fishing effort allocations may be carried over from one year to the next within the European Union Multi Annual Guidance Programme (MAGP IV). [HL2425]
§ The Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Lord Donoughue)As my honourable friend the Parliamentary Secretary announced on 24 February last year, (HC Deb., cols.187–88), fishing effort available to the UK pelagic and beam trawl segments in 1998 was allocated between the various Producer Organisations (POs) or groups of fishermen concerned. Monitoring of uptake during 1998 showed that both segments succeeded in remaining within their main targets. Following representations from the industry, we approached the Commission to see if unused effort could be carried over into subsequent years. They have now confirmed to us that this is possible. We will accordingly be holding urgent consultation meetings with those concerned to explore how to reflect this in effort allocations for this year.