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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of quota allocations for (a) bass, (b) horse mackerel and (c) other species for inshore fishers in (i) Cornwall and (ii) the South West.

The UK's allocations of quota stocks (including horse mackerel) are derived from fixed shares of total allowable catches (TACs), which the UK sets via negotiation with other coastal States. Our approach to setting TACs is based on the best available scientific advice and informed by close engagement with industry. The needs of inshore fishers in Cornwall and the wider South West, as well as other sectors of the fishing industry across the UK, are carefully considered when UK positions are developed for fisheries negotiations.

Bass is a non-quota stock and not subject to quota allocations. The catching of bass is subject to ICES advice on what can be sustainably removed, management measures and gear restrictions. Hook and line is the only authorised targeted fishery, within specific catch limits. Bass may also be landed as bycatch when caught in fixed gillnets or trawls and seines, also within specific catch limits. Other non-quota species are not subject to quota allocations.