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.

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.

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.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to recommendations of Arijit De of the University of Manchester in his article 'Rattling the supply chains: creating a more sustainable way to do business', published on 22 April, to reduce traditional road freight and its emissions through the greater use of maritime transport.

Answered by Baroness Gustafsson - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Globalised supply chains remain a crucial part of our nation's economic growth. This government is actively working to strengthen the resilience of supply chains critical to the UK's economic security and growth, ensuring they remain secure, diverse, and sustainable in the face of global challenges. This includes work being done by the Department for Transport to encourage modal shift of freight from road to rail or water. We will consider the University of Manchester's report and its recommendations as part of our wider programme of work.

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