UK Sea Bass Stocks

Angela Smith Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd December 2014 Westminster Hall

[Angela Smith (Penistone and Stocksbridge) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Meon Valley (George Hollingbery) on securing the debate. We always say that debates are important, but this one really is; and it is very timely, given the meeting of the Council of the European Union in two week’s time.

The hon. Gentleman outlined perfectly the problems with sea bass stock. My right hon. Friend the Member for Exeter (Mr Bradshaw), and the hon. Member for Newbury (Richard Benyon)—both ex-Fisheries Ministers —made the important point that if we do not take tough decisions now we will be back in two years facing an even worse crisis in stock levels. That is an important backdrop to today’s debate.

I want to underline one of the debate’s key themes, and in doing so I must declare not quite an interest, but where I come from—literally. I am the daughter of a former commercial fisherman—a Grimsby fisherman. Grimsby was the biggest fishing port in the world at one point. He fished in the Arctic, which was probably the most difficult fishing ground to work in during the 1950s. I grew up in a village outside the town and fully realise the pride and feeling that coastal people have in their fishermen, which continues to this day. In my father’s youth it was common for the school day to start with the fisherman’s prayer because yet another tragedy had occurred at sea. It is important to remember that fishing was and still is the most dangerous occupation in the world.

Fishing is still an important source of economic activity, contributing many millions to the UK economy. In 2013, the commercial industry directly employed about 12,000 people, with a fleet of around 6,400 vessels, landing around 600,000 tonnes of fish at a value of over £700 million. Let us not forget, however—and I do not think that we can, after today’s debate—how important angling is, socially and economically. I am not going to rehearse the figures again—they have been reiterated more than once today—but to summarise, both directly and indirectly, angling contributes £1.2 billion and 23,600 jobs to the UK economy.

Fishing and angling matter, and sea bass is an important and iconic fish for those engaged in both commercial and recreational fishing. The latest figures suggest that across Europe some 5,600 tonnes of sea bass are landed annually, with the commercial side accounting for just over 4,000 tonnes, around 75% of the total, and recreational fishing accounting for the rest—around 25%. A breakdown of landings by EU state shows that French vessels are by far the biggest exploiters of the stock, accounting for around 66%; by contrast, UK vessels land around 20% of the total, with the Dutch and the Belgians landing the majority of the rest.

The fish itself—this next point is important when we are discussing sustainability—is a slow-growing one, and does not mature until four to seven years of age. Juveniles spend up to three years occupying nursery areas in estuaries and tend not to leave until they are around 36 cm in length.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea has advised that sea bass mortality is at a level well above that considered sustainable for the stock. As we all know, ICES has recommended that catches should be cut immediately by 80%, to restore stock levels. Furthermore, recruitment of young fish into the population has been in decline since the mid-2000s, and has been very poor since 2008. The decline in recruitment coupled with the increase in mortality has caused a rapid deterioration in stock levels. Another important point to bear in mind is that the species is completely unprotected by quotas.

It is against that backdrop that some EU countries have taken action to avoid a disastrous collapse of the stock in their waters. We have heard today what the Irish have done, with a complete ban on commercial bass fishing by Irish-registered vessels within Ireland’s 12-mile territorial limit. The Dutch Government are considering the introduction of a series of national measures, including the banning of pair trawling in certain areas from September to December, capping monthly landings, increasing the minimum landing size from 36 cm to 42 cm, setting a bag limit for recreational anglers and putting a cap on the small-scale commercial rod and line fleet.

The EU position is fluid, and is up for discussion and decision in two weeks’ time. It proposes that anglers be restricted to bagging one fish per person, per day, while commercial vessels would face some restrictions on catch—it is all very fluid—based on the assessment of the need for an immediate 80% reduction in catch and the reductions on stock exploitation required to keep the species sustainable.

As has been mentioned frequently, in the UK we recognised the need to protect sea bass stock—that history and the need to learn lessons from it have been well rehearsed today—with the plan in 2007 to raise the minimum landing size to 40 cm, and then again to 45 cm. In 2012, the then Fisheries Ministers, the hon. Member for Newbury, launched a review of the evidence supporting those measures, but to this day we have not seen its outcome. Will the Minister comment on where it has got to?

In the past few years, the UK Government—both the previous Government and the current one—have seemed unwilling to take action in UK waters to restore stock levels, arguing that they do not want to exceed or fall short of either the requirements set by the EU or, now, those of their own better regulation framework. However, I note from a recent letter sent by the Minister to the right hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Annette Brooke) that although he believes that important progress can be made at the EU Council in two weeks’ time, he is of a mind to press for a more radical set of proposals from the Commission negotiations, with a focus on a balanced package of measures to reduce catches in the commercial sector, coupled with sensible measures for the recreational sector.

I wish to make it clear to the Minister that we support an approach that calls for stronger interim measures. The UK position in those negotiations needs to be firm and resolute. We need a better set of proposals from the EU than the one currently on the table. Although it is possible for member states to develop measures unilaterally, the impact of such measures is weakened by the grandfather rights on access to home waters that are enjoyed by some member states. That is why we need agreement at EU level. The ideal outcome would be a set of measures that all member states have to abide by, including short-term measures to halt the alarming decline in stocks while further research is undertaken and a long-term management plan is developed.

What do we do if we do not get agreement at the EU Council in two weeks’ time? The Opposition acknowledge the potential anomaly if we take unilateral action, but the UK Government would have to do something in the event of failure to find agreement at the EU Council. A number of measures have been proposed both today and in the recent past, including an increased minimum landing size. On that issue, I return to the review promised by one of the Minister’s predecessors and reiterate that we would be glad to hear both its findings and his view.

We all recognise that simply increasing the minimum landing size is not a complete answer. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea has stated that it has serious concerns about the recruitment of fish into the sea bass population, which has been in decline for a long time. The debate about whether to extend the protection of sea bass nursery areas goes on and on. Will the Minister explain his plans to tackle that problem? We need resolution on that issue sooner rather than later—much sooner, in fact.

Has the Minister considered incentives to encourage commercial rod and line fishing, especially within the 6-mile limit, as an alternative to more damaging commercial fishing practices? Hon. Members have mentioned other measures such as catch limits and spatial closures. We need a response from him on those as well.

Finally, the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 set out the Government’s intention to create an ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas. One of the main aims of that network is conservation of the sea environment. Will the Minister explain his view on how that policy interacts with issues such as the one we are discussing, especially when one considers that around a third of commercial catches are based on demersal trawling, a type of fishing said to be extremely damaging to the sea environment?

The 2009 Act gives the Marine Management Organisation the powers to introduce byelaws in our protected areas in the 6-mile to 12-mile coastal limit. Those byelaws apply to the vessels of all EU member states, not just to the home fleet. That could be a valuable way to extend some of the protections we want to see. I am interested to hear what the Minister has to say about the potential use of marine conservation zones and the powers available to the MMO to deal with some of the problems we are facing.

I look forward to the Minister’s response on this critical issue. More than anything else, we want and need a European deal. We also want to see positive and constructive engagement with the EU, not just shouting from the sidelines. We hope he will commit to that and to outlining, in addition, any measures that the UK can apply successfully and fairly in the event of a decision failing to materialise at EU level.