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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many times the fisheries protection vessel has been deployed in each of the last five years.

Defra is unable to confirm the position at a UK level as fisheries protection is a devolved matter. The Marine Management Organisation is responsible for regulating and enforcing fisheries activity in English waters. Its two dedicated Offshore Patrol Vessels maintain a near-continuous presence at sea to monitor compliance and safeguard sustainable fishing, with each vessel averaging over 350 days at sea per year since 2022.

Information on at sea activity undertaken by the Scottish, Welsh, or Northern Irish authorities in the waters for which they are responsible can be obtained directly from the respective devolved governments.