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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Norwegian counterpart on fishing quotas in the Svalbard Special Protection Zone; and what steps the Government is taking as a signatory to the Treaty of Paris to preserve rights to (a) fish and (b) minerals in that zone.

The UK’s long held position regarding the application of the Treaty of Paris to the maritime zones of Svalbard is well known to Norway. Under the Treaty, access to the resources of the maritime zones of Svalbard are to be managed by Norway in a non-discriminatory manner.

The Government is continuing to discuss the issues with Norway, and would like to provide longer-term certainty for industry on their fishing rights.