§ Sir Richard BodyTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of EU national fishing fleets are based in objective 1 areas, broken down by country. [97525]
§ Mr. MorleyFor the UK, the Objective 1 areas under the 1994–1999 Structural Funds Programme are the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Merseyside. Vessels with home ports in these areas make up approximately 26 percent. of the UK fleet as at 1 November 1999.
The Objective 1 areas under the 2000–06 Structural Funds Programme are West Wales and the Valleys, Cornwall and Merseyside. Vessels with home ports in these areas make up approximately 14 percent. of the UK fleet as at 1 November 1999.
Under the 2000–06 Structural Funds Programme, the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and Northern Ireland are transitional Objective 1 areas. Vessels with home ports in these areas, plus West Wales and the Valleys, Cornwall and Merseyside make up approximately 39 percent. of the UK fleet as at 1 November 1999.
We do not have similar statistics for the fleets in Objective 1 areas of other member states.