Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the 2026 bass catch limits on the South West’s inshore fishing fleet.

Sustainable catch limits for European Seabass are set at the UK level through UK/EU annual negotiations within the scientific advice provided by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). No region-specific assessments are carried out as negotiations set sustainable catch limits at a coastal state level across the stock’s natural range.