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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas on total allowable catches; and whether her Department has sought to follow that advice in fishing negotiations with (a) the EU, (b) Norway and (c) the North-East Atlantic coastal states.

The UK has advocated in all those negotiations an approach towards setting Total Allowable Catches (TACs) that is founded on the best available scientific advice including from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) on achieving Maximum Sustainable Yield. The Government will publish a full assessment of the number of TACs set consistent with ICES advice in early 2023 and once all annual negotiations have concluded.