§ Sir Archy KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent research she has commissioned into cod by-catches in nephrops fisheries; and if she will make a statement. [143719]
§ Mr. BradshawDefra and the other Fisheries Departments in the UK have sufficient data on the catches of vessels which take both nephrops and cod to be able to demonstrate that curtailing nephrops catches brings minimal benefit to cod stocks. We shall continue to draw to the attention of the European Commission the evidence we have on this.