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 sustainability of mackerel stocks in UK waters.

The Government draws on independent scientific assessments from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) to understand the status of the North East Atlantic mackerel stock. The latest ICES assessment highlights increased uncertainty and pressure on the stock, underlining the need for sustainable management. Key to this is reaching a comprehensive sharing agreement with coastal States to the stock, and the UK is committed to reaching such an agreement. In its absence, the UK has reached an agreement with Faroe Islands, Iceland and Norway that brings down pressure on the stock by around 10 percentage points compared to last year.