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 protect the population of Orcas off the coast of Scotland.

Protection of this particular population is a devolved issue.

All cetaceans are fully protected in UK waters under the EU Habitats Directive, the UK Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and through sectoral measures tackling specific threats, such as the bycatch mitigation measures implemented under EU Regulations (Regulation 812/2004).