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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that fishing rights and conservation efforts comply with the Trade and Cooperation Agreement with the EU.

The UK and EU are required under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) to cooperate with a view to ensuring that fishing activities for shared stocks are environmentally sustainable in the long term and contribute to achieving economic and social benefits. The UK complies with the requirements of the TCA and ensures that all of the actions taken are in accordance with those requirements. This includes meeting on an annual basis to set the total allowable catch for shared stocks, based on the best available scientific advice, including advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas on maximum sustainable yield. The UK derives its annual quota based on shares agreed within the TCA. Since 2021, four sets of these annual consultations have been held with the EU under the TCA.

It is for the UK to decide which fisheries management measures are applicable in UK waters, and this is done in line with UK domestic obligations including those under the Fisheries Act 2020 and Joint Fisheries Statement, having regard to the objectives and principles outlined in the TCA Article 494. The Specialised Committee on Fisheries, established under the TCA, has met seven times, and provides a joint forum for cooperation between the UK and EU on fisheries issues, helping ensure that conservation efforts comply with, and support the shared objectives of, the TCA.