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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans his Department has to support Regional Fisheries Management Organisations to conserve marine biodiversity and tackle climate change pressures on the oceans.

As a new, independent member of five RFMOs, the UK is expanding and enhancing our efforts to sustainably manage fisheries, protect ecosystems and combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing at an international scale. These efforts, through our engagement in Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, other international organisations such as the FAO, and directly with individual States, will include supporting RFMOs in conserving marine biodiversity and tackling climate change pressures on the ocean.

Our work in RFMOs is complemented by the UK’s support of a target to protect at least 30% of the global ocean by 2030 and through our support to conclude negotiations on a new implementing Agreement under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.