Fisheries: EU Countries

(asked on 29th June 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, what steps he is taking to ensure that mechanisms are in place to allow data exchange with EU (a) institutions and (b) member states to help manage fish stock levels.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 5th July 2021

Fisheries protection is a devolved matter. Nonetheless, Defra, the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Executive continue to work together to share information and ensure a coordinated approach to monitoring, compliance and enforcement across UK waters.

The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement requires both Parties to share information on such matters. The two parties exchange information on records of catches of quota species from the UK Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) on a monthly basis, supplemented with International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES)-rectangle (geographical areas) level data to provide assurance of the robustness of the EEZ-level data.

We are working closely with counterparts in EU Member States to ensure effective coordination of intelligence-sharing and inspections. It is a legal requirement for all registered fishing vessels over 12m operating within UK waters, including EU vessels, to be fitted with a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) device. Data from this device is relayed via the flag member states providing the UK Fisheries Authorities with live positional data.

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