Fishing Catches: Territorial Waters

(asked on 11th March 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many tonnes of fish were caught in England’s EEZ waters by EU vessels in (a) January and (b) February 2021.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 19th March 2021

The MMO uses data published by the EU Commission to estimate EU landings from UK waters as part of the annual MMO EEZA report. The report is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uk-commercial-sea-fisheries-landings-by-exclusive-economic-zone-of-capture-report-2019 along with the underlying data. These reports are available for the period 2012-2019, covering UK quota and non-quota landings. EU Data for 2021 is not yet available.

The MMO does not hold comprehensive, historical records of activities by EU vessels, as these are held by their flag state. Table 1 provides an estimate of landings of non-quota species taken from English waters (EEZ and territorial waters) in the period 2012-2016 only.

Estimates of the quantity (t) of non-quota species landed from English waters* by EU vessels (2012-16)

Species name

Average annual tonnage

Great Atlantic scallop

2,521

European pilchard(=Sardine)

2,116

Cuttlefish, bobtail squids nei

1,536

Pouting(=Bib)

1,435

Edible crab

1,286

Tub gurnard

1,208

Lemon sole

929

Catsharks, etc. nei

897

European anchovy

833

Small-spotted catshark

782

Common squids nei

748

European seabass

712

Gurnards, searobins nei

672

Various squids nei

581

Red gurnard

563

Other non-quota species

8,174

All non-quota species

24,995

*English Territorial waters and EEZ.

Reticulating Splines