§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the reliability of catch landing figures obtained by her Department is in determining fish stocks in British fishing waters; what her estimate is of the margin of error in estimations based on this information; what other information her Department uses to determine fish stocks; and what the estimated margins of error are using this information. [150305]
§ Mr. BradshawFish stock assessments are undertaken by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and are linked to the sea areas in which individual fish stocks are mainly found. They will often embrace the waters of more than one country as well as the high seas. Account is taken of data contributed by all of the main countries exploiting each stock and436W comprises officially recorded information on landings and fishing effort, plus scientific data on size and age structure, growth rate, maturity, and discard rates (when available). Most assessments also use the year to year trend in relative abundance estimated as catch per effort from independent national and international research vessel surveys. The absolute accuracy of assessments is difficult to estimate at the present time but judgments on the robustness of the underlying data will be reflected in the scientific advice provided regarding future levels of stock exploitation.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the effect is of the removal of large cod from a fishery on the overall levels of recruitment to a fishery. [150480]
§ Mr. BradshawRemoving adult cod is expected to have relatively little effect on the survival or growth rates of juvenile cod, but could significantly affect the production of eggs.
§ Mr. PatersonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the EU(a) Necessity and (b) Recovery research programme on selective gear is scheduled to start; what the cost of each project is; and what the United Kingdom contribution to each project is. [152170]
§ Mr. BradshawThe Necessity project begins on 1 March 2004 and is budgeted to cost Euro 2,806,946. The UK contribution is Euro 443, 420. The Recovery project began on 1 November 2002 and was budgeted to cost Euro 7,725,285. The UK contribution is Euro 378,325.