Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to publish a comprehensive, up to date list of fishing vessel licences, including sanctions for fisheries and labour offences, in line with principle two of the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO), acting on behalf of all UK Fisheries Authorities, publishes lists of all UK registered and licensed fishing vessels each month. This includes vessel characteristics and licence information. There is currently no requirement to publish enforcement statistics or details of sanctions relating to non-compliance with fisheries regulations and MMO does not routinely do so. It does, however, share details of specific cases where there may be a wider public interest or where it is considered appropriate to do so, and it continues to engage with the fisheries sector on compliance matters directly, through established groups and networks, and through wider-reaching awareness campaigns.
The UK Government welcomes the broad principles underpinning the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency and continues to review the steps we can take to combat illegal fishing. We welcome the ongoing engagement with the organisations who have produced the Charter.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of the remote electronic monitoring programme in delivering the programme's objectives for UK fisheries, and what steps they will take to ensure that key objectives are met in line with published timelines.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The remote electronic monitoring programme is still in the early stages of implementation. An evaluation will assess the effectiveness of the programme as well as how we met our key objectives. At this stage, the programme is too early in its testing to assess the evidence. The evaluation will report regularly throughout the programme, starting autumn 2025.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to incentivise participation in the early-adopter phase of installing remote electronic monitoring on fishing vessels in UK waters; what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of those incentives; and what plans they have, if any, to expand incentives in the future.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has carefully considered how to incentivise fishing industry participation in the early adopter phases of the remote electronic monitoring programme. The programme is still in the early stages of implementation; it is therefore too early to draw upon how we can assess the effectiveness of those incentives.
Defra funds remote electronic monitoring equipment and installation for vessels that volunteer to be early adopters. Participation also gives the fishing industry an opportunity to shape the programme alongside resolving potential operational issues as we test them. An additional benefit to industry for early participation is that it may support applications by fishing operators to the Quota Allocation Mechanism, or for sustainability certification.
A volunteer vessel has been secured for the first early adopter project – deploying REM on large pelagic trawlers. This project is now underway. We are in the process of seeking further volunteers for the second early adopter project – deploying remote electronic monitoring on demersal seines (flyseines).
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy for publishing information about enforcement actions for non-compliance with fisheries regulations in English waters; and what measures they are implementing, if any, to increase public access to information about enforcement activities, penalties and sanctions, for breach of those regulations.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
There is currently no requirement to publish enforcement statistics relating to non-compliance with fisheries regulations in English waters and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) does not routinely do so. It does, however, share details of specific court cases where there may be a wider public interest or where it is considered appropriate to do so, and it continues to engage with the fisheries sector on compliance matters directly, through established groups and networks, and through wider-reaching awareness campaigns.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures are in place to ensure that all catches are accurately recorded and accounted for in line with the bycatch objective under section 1(6)(b) of the Fisheries Act 2020; what assessment they have made of the adequacy of these measures in achieving this objective; and what plans they have to enhance monitoring of catches in the short term.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
As fisheries control and enforcement is a devolved matter, each UK Fisheries Administration is responsible for ensuring catches from their waters are reported accurately. In English waters, the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) monitors all catches from commercially licensed fishing vessels, for vessels over 10 metres, information is recorded in logbooks whilst English vessels under 10 metres record their catches using a purpose-built mobile app or website. All catch data is submitted to the MMO to provide an accurate picture of how much fish we are taking from our seas. To ensure catch details are accounted for correctly, the MMO regularly conduct inspections of fishing vessels based upon a risk-based intelligence led marine enforcement model.
Defra has been reviewing the operation of the landing obligation as part of wider reforms to discards management in England. In 2025, these reforms include trialling changes to how we account for catches. This work aims to help ensure that catches are recorded and accounted for and contribute to the achievement of the bycatch objective.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by the Minister of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 10 October 2024 (HC6250), whether it is their intention to ratify the International Maritime Organisation's 2012 Cape Town Agreement on the Safety of Fishing Vessels at the United Nations Oceans Conference in June 2025; and whether they will fully align their policies with the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The UK Government fully supports the Cape Town Agreement. It is the first global agreement on fishing safety. It provides mandatory minimum standards to safeguard fishers working at sea and deters vessel operators from engaging in Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. The Agreement achieves this by making poor working conditions subject to detention and inspection globally.
We have worked to ensure that the UK can accede to the Cape Town Agreement. Subject to Parliamentary Scrutiny, we will instruct the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to conclude accession. This will be as soon as possible.
The UK Government also welcomes the broad principles underpinning the Global Charter for Fisheries Transparency. We see considerable merit in its objective of improving transparency and accountability in global fisheries governance and management.
The UK has already implemented many of the policies set out in the Charter. We will continue to keep under active review the steps we can take to combat IUU fishing and will continue to welcome engagement with the organisations which have produced the Charter.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will extend 'right to repair' legislation (1) further to encourage reuse and repair practices, and (2) to ensure that manufacturers provide appropriate parts and service information.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy. We have convened a Circular Economy Taskforce, comprising experts from industry, academia, and civil society, to help develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England. The Strategy will map our transition to a circular economy, supported by a series of roadmaps that detail the interventions that the government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis.
Defra recognises that reuse and repair are fundamental tenets of any circular economy and will consider the evidence for appropriate action right across the economy as we develop the Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to ensure that commonly discarded goods are instead reused to generate economic, environmental and social value.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy. We have convened a Circular Economy Taskforce, comprising experts from industry, academia, and civil society, to help develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England. The Strategy will map our transition to a circular economy, supported by a series of roadmaps that detail the interventions that the government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis.
Defra recognises that reuse and repair are fundamental tenets of any circular economy and will consider the evidence for appropriate action right across the economy as we develop the Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to encourage the uptake of reuse and repair as drivers of a circular economy.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This Government is committed to transitioning to a circular economy. We have convened a Circular Economy Taskforce, comprising experts from industry, academia, and civil society, to help develop a Circular Economy Strategy for England. The Strategy will map our transition to a circular economy, supported by a series of roadmaps that detail the interventions that the government and others will make on a sector-by-sector basis.
Defra recognises that reuse and repair are fundamental tenets of any circular economy and will consider the evidence for appropriate action right across the economy as we develop the Strategy.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to their policy paper 30by30 on land in England: confirmed criteria and next steps, published on 29 October, what role they intend Local Nature Recovery Strategies to have in achieving their '30 by 30’ targets.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Delivering the UK’s 30by30 target on land in England will require a strategic approach, to address the scale of action needed, and ensure a diverse and well-connected network of 30by30 areas. Over the coming months, we will be developing a delivery strategy for 30by30, to ensure we make good on this important commitment. This will confirm the key levers that will help us to achieve this target and set out the pathway to 2030. We hope to finalise and publish this strategy this year.
Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) are currently being prepared across England. Each LNRS will agree priorities and propose practical actions in the best locations for nature recovery and wider environmental benefits, such as water quality, flood risk management and climate mitigation. Where appropriate action is then taken, some of these areas could go on to contribute towards 30by30 where landowners/land managers are willing.