Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure European fishing boats comply with the UK-EU fishing deal, particularly within the UK 12-mile limit.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
EU vessels operating in UK waters are required to comply with the same rules as UK vessels. EU vessels have no access to the 0–6-mile zone and limited access to the 6–12-mile zone. Fishing vessel movements within English waters are monitored by the Marine Management Organisation’s Offshore Monitoring Team using Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. This includes detection of EU vessels within the English 12nm limit without the required authorisation. Fisheries is a devolved matter in the UK so Devolved Governments may have different arrangements and EU vessels only have access to the English and Welsh 6–12-mile zone.
Asked by: Robin Swann (Ulster Unionist Party - South Antrim)
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 potential merits of amending the closed season for periwinkle gathering in inter-tidal areas in England.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
No national assessment has been made of the merits of amending closed seasons for periwinkle gathering.
The management of inshore fisheries in England, including the gathering of periwinkles in inter‑tidal areas, is the responsibility of the ten Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities (IFCAs). IFCAs are committees of local Government. IFCAs have powers to introduce local byelaws, including seasonal restrictions, to ensure the sustainable management of species within their districts.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support small fishing fleets.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra works closely with all parts of the fishing industry, including the small‑scale fleet, to support a vibrant, profitable and sustainable sector. This includes securing fishing opportunities for them in annual negotiations and developing fisheries management plans to maintain or restore stocks. The department has also established the Fisheries and Coastal Growth Fund to help regenerate the industry and coastal communities, and we encourage small‑scale fishers to make full use of the support available.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage young people to enter the fishing industry.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has been working with industry to understand how best to support young people into seafood careers. This includes Defra’s UK Seafood Careers Project, co-designed with industry, which has explored the issues and challenges affecting the recruitment and retention of UK workers within the UK’s fishing industry. As part of this project, young people were invited to focus groups and workshops, to understand how to make seafood careers more attractive. The UK Seafood Careers Project is due to be published in Spring 2026.
The £360 million Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund aims to support the next generation of fishers and breathe new life into our coastal communities. In England, the scheme is still in development, and Defra is considering how the Fund could support young fishers to enter the industry.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to support young people in the fishing industry.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Defra has been working with industry to understand how best to support young people into seafood careers. This includes Defra’s UK Seafood Careers Project, co-designed with industry, which has explored the issues and challenges affecting the recruitment and retention of UK workers within the UK’s fishing industry. As part of this project, young people were invited to focus groups and workshops, to understand how to make seafood careers more attractive. The UK Seafood Careers Project is due to be published in Spring 2026.
The £360 million Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund aims to support the next generation of fishers and breathe new life into our coastal communities. In England, the scheme is still in development, and Defra is considering how the Fund could support young fishers to enter the industry.
Asked by: James MacCleary (Liberal Democrat - Lewes)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans her Department has to help support sustainable fishing through investment.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
On 19 May 2025, the Government announced the Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund, a £360 million investment over the next 12 years in the UK’s fisheries and seafood sector, and coastal communities. In England the fund is being designed with input from industry and the department has recently finished a set of wide-ranging and nation-wide stakeholder engagement. Responses to this engagement have highlighted the need for healthy marine ecosystems, and support to transition to more sustainable fishing practices. These ideas will be considered as the scheme is developed, as we are committed to designing a fund that is better aligned with industry priorities and focused on long-term resilience, sustainability and growth.
Asked by: Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what reassurance they have had from the government of Mauritius in relation to its capabilities to prevent illegal fishing in the Chagos Islands marine protected area since July 2024.
Answered by Baroness Chapman of Darlington - Minister of State (Development)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer given in the House of Commons on 21 November 2025 to Question 90684, which is reproduced below for ease of reference:
We welcome the 3 November announcement by the Mauritian government confirming plans for the establishment of a Marine Protected Area after entry into force of the Treaty. The proposed zones of the future protected area will utilise the internationally recognised categories of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
There will be no commercial fishing across the entire 640,000 square kilometre area. The Great Chagos Bank will be given one of the highest levels of protection, with the rest of the Marine Protected Area categorised as a highly protected conservation zone. There will be limited provision for controlled levels of artisanal fishing in confined zoned areas intended for resettlement, to allow for subsistence fishing by any Chagossian communities that resettle, while maintaining the commitment to nature conservation.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled UK leads global efforts to help communities save the ocean and beat poverty, published on 26 January 2026, whether funding awarded for LED lighting on fishing nets will provide research applicable to fishing in UK waters.
Answered by Mary Creagh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The funding awarded for the ‘Illuminar el Mar’ project in Ecuador through the UK’s OCEAN Grants Programme will support research applicable to fishing in UK waters. In partnership with University College London, the project will use low-cost LED bycatch-reduction technology that operates through visual deterrence. The research is designed to support global replication and will be made open access.
Asked by: Oliver Dowden (Conservative - Hertsmere)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will prohibit bottom-towed fishing gear in all 41 Marine Protected Areas.
Answered by Emma Hardy - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The consultation on the latest round of proposed fisheries byelaws, which proposes further restrictions on bottom trawling in 41 of England’s offshore Marine Protected Areas, closed on 29 September. The Marine Management Organisation is now carefully considering all responses received, and decisions will be made in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether environmental assessments undertaken by regional fisheries management organisations are regarded as meeting the requirements under Part 4 of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill; and if so, how deficiencies in cumulative impact assessment and public participation will be addressed.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Part 4 of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Bill introduces changes to the marine licensing regime to meet some of the UK’s obligations to the BBNJ Agreement. Fisheries issues are not typically considered within the remit of the marine licensing regime.
Part 4 of the BBNJ Agreement provides that an environmental impact assessment may not be required under the Agreement where the impacts of an activity have been assessed in accordance with the requirements of another relevant body. Such bodies may include, for example, Regional Fisheries Management Organisations. This includes where the regulations or standards arising from the assessment have been designed to prevent, mitigate or manage potential impacts below the threshold for an environmental impact assessment under the Agreement, and those have been complied with.