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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to preserve stocks of sea bass in UK waters.

Given the widely distributed nature of the sea bass stock, the Government has been pushing for effective EU-wide conservation measures that will ensure the stock recovers and becomes sustainable. We expect to see EU proposals for bass conservation measures published shortly, which take account of the latest science and the socio-economic importance of this stock. The Government will also consider the need for any additional domestic management of bass in the context of these EU proposals.