HC Deb 19 July 2004 vol 424 c1W
Mr. Wiggin

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the size of the(a) British and (b) Spanish fishing fleet (i) is and (ii) was in 1997; and what estimate she has made of the size of each fleet in 2006. [183340]

Mr. Bradshaw

The information available is given in the table. No estimate has been made of the anticipated size of the UK fleet in 2006, and an estimate for the Spanish fleet is also not available.

Number of vessels Gross tonnage(tonnes)3 Engine power (Kw)
UKfleet1:
As at 31 December 1996 8,667 274,532 1,054,927
As at 31 December 2003 7,271 234,037 918,258
Spanish fleet 2:
As at 31 December 1996 18,244 603,249 1,537,453
As at 31 December 2003 14,579 489,002 1,200,712
1 Data for the UK fishing fleet incorporate estimates for the fleets of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
2 Analysis of EC Fishing Vessel Register data provided by EUROSTAT.
3 Tonnage data for the UK fleet incorporate the effect of the remeasurement of vessels onto a Gross Tonnage basis from other methodologies.