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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to his Department's press release entitled Government announces next steps to support pollack fishermen, published on 23 February 2024, and the Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science's invitation to commercial fishers to register an interest in the forthcoming pollack population size study in the western English Channel, published on 12 March 2024, what the (a) estimated cost and (b) planned timetable for the study is; and what plans he has to publish (i) analysis and (ii) a report of this work for the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.

You asked for details (cost, timeline and publication plans) of the forthcoming pollack population size study in the western English Channel, published on 12 March 2024. The Department is not able to release the estimated cost of the study at this point in time. The indicative timeline of the study is as follows:

• 12 March 2024 – Opening date to register interest
• 26 March 2024 – Closing date to register interest
• 27-28 March 2024 – Application pack issued to those registered
• 10 April 2024 – Closing date for submitting applications
• End of April 2024 – Vessels selected and feedback provided to all applicants
• Mid-May (dates TBC) 2024 – Training for successful applicants
• Late May 2024 to February 2025 - Sampling programme duration

Once the data analysis is complete, the results will be shared with the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and published on the Department’s website.