Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to regulate the pelagic supertrawler fishing fleet to stop the bycatch of (a) dolphins and (b) other non-target species.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We are considering our policies for large pelagic trawlers, commonly known as supertrawlers, and working to develop more robust management of the non-quota species which these vessels are targeting alongside quota stocks.
In 2022, the UK Government and Devolved Administrations published the UK Bycatch Mitigation Initiative. This sets out how we will work collaboratively with the fishing industry and other stakeholders to minimise and, where possible, eliminate the bycatch of sensitive marine species, such as dolphins.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether it remains her policy to ban the import of (a) foie gras and (b) fur.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government has made clear that the production of foie gras from ducks or geese using force feeding raises serious welfare concerns. We are in the process of considering further steps that could be taken in relation to foie gras and we have been gathering information and evidence to inform our approach.
We have committed to explore potential action in relation to animal fur, as set out in the Action Plan for Animal Welfare and have since conducted a Call for Evidence on the fur sector along with other forms of engagement with interested parties.
We are continuing to build our evidence base on the fur sector, which will be used to inform any future action on the fur trade.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to encourage the building of new reservoirs.
Answered by Rebecca Pow - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Strategic Policy Statement for Ofwat sets out the Government’s commitment to improve the resilience of water supplies in England. This requires water companies to take a twin track approach of increasing water supplies, such as building new reservoirs, and reducing demand for water, including leakage reduction.
Water companies are investing £469 million in the current price review period (2020-2025) to investigate the strategic water supply infrastructure required to improve water supply resilience in England. Water companies are now consulting on their statutory draft water resources management plans, which set out in detail the new water supply and demand management measures needed to secure supplies in the long term.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to prevent Russian-owned vessels from fishing in the UK-Faroe Islands special area waters.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
We were deeply concerned about Russian fishing activity under Faroese licences in the shared UK-Faroes Special Area last year and made this point very clear to the Faroese Government. We have formally requested urgent discussions with them on the issue, which we anticipate will take place in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she is taking steps to bring forward a public consultation on the use of cages in farmed animals; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of bringing forward a public consultation on reforming food labelling to reflect animal welfare.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The Government is committed to exploring the phasing out of cages, supporting the industry to do so in a way which underpins UK food production and does not have unintended animal welfare or business impacts. We will progress with plans to consult on the use of cages in farming systems as soon as the time is right.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he is taking steps to ban sky lanterns.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
We are commissioning new research to examine the risks that sky lanterns pose to the environment and potential avenues for mitigating any significant risks. We expect this new research to be completed in the new year, following which we will be in a position to consider next steps.
Local authorities already have powers to apply local controls to restrict or ban the use of sky lanterns on council or public land. A number of councils have already introduced a ban in England, Scotland and Wales.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress he has made on working with other nations in the Global Ocean Alliance 30by30 initiative.
Answered by Scott Mann - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Since 2019, the United Kingdom has led the Global Ocean Alliance (GOA) of countries in support of ambitious ocean action within the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), including the adoption of a target to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030 (‘30by30’).
The GOA now has over 70 country members who have pledged to support the adoption of the 30by30 ocean target at the 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the CBD in December this year. The United Kingdom also serves as Ocean Co-Chair of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature & People (HAC), alongside Costa Rica and France, which champions 30by30 for both land and ocean. Between these two United Kingdom-led and complementary alliances, 120 countries now support 30by30 in the ocean.
The ocean is essential for all life on Earth, yet has historically been underrepresented in the CBD. The GOA’s activities - which span meetings, co-hosting events and promoting joint initiatives - are therefore extremely important to raise the profile of ocean issues to ensure COP15 delivers the necessary outcomes for the protection, restoration and sustainable management of the ocean. For example, at the UN Ocean Conference in June 2022, the GOA and HAC supported the United Kingdom/Fiji-led side event “Driving Positive Ocean Action”, which saw the mobilisation of further ocean finance.
As we approach COP15, the United Kingdom will continue working with Costa Rica and France, galvanising members of the HAC and GOA, to ensure these coalitions have the strongest possible impact as we call for this crucial target to be enshrined in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Action Plan for Animal Welfare, if it remains his policy to build a clear evidence base to inform decisions on banning the import or sale of foie gras.
Answered by Scott Mann - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
The Action Plan for Animal Welfare noted that HM Government has made clear that the production of foie gras from ducks or geese which have been force fed raises serious welfare concerns and that the production of foie gras by force feeding is already illegal in the UK. The Action Plan also noted that now that the UK has left the EU, we are committed to building a clear evidence base to inform decisions on banning the import or sale of foie gras and other products derived from low-welfare systems.
HM Government is currently continuing to build this evidence base. No specific deadline has been set for this exercise, and further evidence that people may wish to share with HM Government would be gratefully received.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ban bottom trawling fishing in offshore Marine Protected Areas.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
We have built a comprehensive network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and are focused on making sure they are properly protected. Now that we have left the European Union and the Common Fisheries Policy, we can use new powers in the Fisheries Act 2020 to manage damaging fishing activity in our 40 English offshore MPAs. It is only fishing activity that might damage the legally protected habitats and species in MPAs that requires management. We have already introduced byelaws in the first four English offshore sites which ban bottom towed gear over sensitive habitats. We have also published a call for evidence relating to the next thirteen sites. We are aiming to have all MPAs in English offshore waters protected from damaging fishing activity by 2024.
Asked by: Virginia Crosbie (Conservative - Ynys Môn)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help improve water quality.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Restoring our nation’s rivers and seas by improving water quality is a government priority. We are tackling sewage overflows with the biggest infrastructure programme in water company history; investing in farm infrastructure, advice and action to help farmers tackle run off; restoring riparian habitats; and reviewing our Bathing Water regulations to support more designations. As the pressures of climate change and population growth are increasing, so too will our response to ensure we leave our water environment in a better state for future generations.