§ Lord Stoddart of Swindonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Lord Whitty on 20 January (WA 75), with respect to the outcome of the December meeting of the Fisheries Council of the European Union, what consideration was given to methods of conservation adopted in fishing areas worldwide which are comparable to the North Sea; to what extent such methods were adopted or rejected; and, if rejected, for what reasons. [HL1347]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Whitty)On the basis of internationally agreed scientific principles, the same toolbox of methods is used worldwide to manage the level of exploitation of fish stocks. For example, limiting the catch, or the number and size of vessels and their fishing days, or mesh sizes, minimum sizes and various other gear restrictions. Closed seasons and areas may also help, but this depends on the biology of the fish. The EU management and stock recovery proposals for the North Sea all belong to this family of measures and are similar in concept to those that are applied in many other parts of the world. Successfully managing the international fisheries of the North Sea is particularly difficult, however, because of the numerous fishing nations and methods and the common occcurrence of migratory species of different sizes on the same grounds. Also, some key North Sea stocks have declined to such a low level that despite experiences elsewhere, there is no scientific precedent for reliably predicting how quickly and effectively they can recover, hence the harsh nature of the current scientific advice.