Fishing Catches

(asked on 28th February 2022) - View Source

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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps, if any, they are taking to publish an action plan with (1) timebound targets to minimise fish species bycatch, and (2) guidance on mitigation measures to avoid species bycatch; and whether resources will be made available to execute such an action plan.


Answered by
Lord Benyon Portrait
Lord Benyon
Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
This question was answered on 14th March 2022

The objectives in the Fisheries Act 2020 underline the UK's commitment to addressing the root cause of discarding. In particular, the bycatch objective looks to avoid or reduce the catching of fish that are below the minimum conservation reference size and other bycatch. The Government is committed to ending the wasteful practice of discards and to increasing the level of accountability for fishing activities at sea, while building the confidence we have in our seafood products. We are currently consulting on the Joint Fisheries Statement which sets out further detail about this and we will be considering this further in the development of fisheries management plans.

In addition to this, the landing obligation forms part of retained EU law and continues to be in force in the UK. However, there are challenges to implementing this. That is why Defra is developing a domestic catching policy for England which is tailored to our marine environment and industry needs. We are engaging with industry and other stakeholders about this.

We recognise that accidental bycatch in fisheries is one of the greatest threats faced by sensitive marine species such as dolphins and seabirds, and we remain fully committed to tackling this issue. Defra officials are working closely with the Devolved Administrations to finalise the UK Bycatch Mitigation Initiative (BMI).

The BMI will identify policy objectives and potential actions to achieve part of the Fisheries Act’s ecosystem objective to minimise and, where possible, eliminate incidental catch of sensitive marine species. This initiative will set out a joint vision for bycatch across the UK. Each administration will be responsible for developing solutions that are tailored to local needs.

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