Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the Angling Trust report entitled When We Fish Again; and what his timetable is for enabling the sport of angling to commence again.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is vital that people continue to be active during the Covid-19 outbreak to support their physical and mental health
On 11 May, Government published updated guidance on lockdown measures, including updates on how people can remain active. From Wednesday 13 May, people are allowed to go outside more than once a day for exercise as long as they are following social distancing guidelines, alone, with members of their household, or with one person from outside of their household. People must still only exercise in groups of no more than two people, unless they are exercising with their household.
All outdoor sports and physical activities are now permitted, without time limit, including angling, with the exception of swimming in an open-air swimming pool. This does not apply to individuals’ private swimming pools within their own homes.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
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 the covid-19 outbreak, what steps his Department is taking to enable the early resumption of angling.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Every citizen must stay alert to protect the NHS and save lives. From Wednesday 13 May, angling can resume in England, as long as participants are with their household or on their own and follow social distancing guidance.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether angling is a permissible activity during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Every citizen must stay alert to protect the NHS and save lives. From Wednesday 13 May, angling can resume in England, as long as participants are with their household or on their own and follow social distancing guidance.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment the Government has made of the safety of resuming coarse angling, whilst maintaining social distancing, during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is vital that people continue to be active during the Covid-19 outbreak to support their physical and mental health
Government advice on how people can remain active is clear. People are able to leave home for basic exercise once a day, for example for a walk, a cycle or a run, provided it is done in a way that meets the latest guidance on social distancing and advice on unnecessary social contact. This means it can be done by people on their own or with their households, not in groups. It is important that people do not go outside unless they have to, and that when they do, they are spending as little time outside as possible, and avoiding unnecessary travel.
Government is carefully reviewing the lockdown guidance over the coming days and weeks.
Asked by: Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru - Arfon)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of permitting recreational fishing as a form of permissible physical exercise while covid-19 social distancing measures are in place.
Answered by Nigel Huddleston - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
It is vital that people continue to be active during the Covid-19 outbreak to support their physical and mental health
Government advice on how people can remain active is clear. People are able to leave home for basic exercise once a day, for example for a walk, a cycle or a run, provided it is done in a way that meets the latest guidance on social distancing and advice on unnecessary social contact. This means it can be done by people on their own or with their households, not in groups. It is important that people do not go outside unless they have to, and that when they do, they are spending as little time outside as possible, and avoiding unnecessary travel.
Government is carefully reviewing the lockdown guidance over the coming days and weeks.
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the results of the survey conducted in 2016 by his Department and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science on the effect on the economy of recreational angling.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 3 March, PQ UIN 22008. [www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2020-02-27/22008]
Asked by: Scott Mann (Conservative - North Cornwall)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will publish the outcome of the survey conducted in 2016 by his Department and the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science on the effect on the economy of recreational angling.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
The Sea Angling Diary survey (www.seaangling.org) is carried out annually, it is analysed by Cefas (www.cefas.co.uk), and combined with information from the National Water Sports Participation Survey. It is used to understand the level of participation, catches and economic impact of sea anglers resident in the UK. The findings for 2016 and 2017 have just been finalised and will be published in Spring this year.
Asked by: Lord Teverson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish action plans for those pathways identified as priorities in their Comprehensive analysis of pathways of unintentional introduction and spread of invasive alien species, published in May 2019.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The development of Pathway Action Plans (PAPs) requires detailed consideration, involving extensive engagement with stakeholders to understand the pathways, to identify the key risks and to understand how they can best be mitigated.
To date the Government has completed one PAP on zoos and aquaria and a further two will be completed later this year covering recreational boating, which is relevant to hull fouling, and angling, which is relevant to stowaways on fishing equipment. Work is beginning imminently on two other PAPs, for horticultural escapes and contaminants of horticultural plants, and Defra is expecting to complete all the PAPs by the end of 2022.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
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 the Environmental Audit Committee's first report of Session 2019 entitled, Invasive Species, if her Department will establish a biosecurity citizens' army to (a) improve public understanding of invasive non-native species and (b) help identify emerging biosecurity threats.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
Partnership working is vital to deliver long-term management of invasive non-native species (INNS). The Great Britain INNS Strategy aims to guide a strong partnership approach with non-Governmental organisations, businesses, Government and the general public working together to improve biosecurity and reduce the risk from INNS.
Defra funded 29 Non-native Species Local Action Groups (LAGs) between 2011 and 2015 to support their start-up and give them time to become self-sustaining. Defra continues to provide advice to the LAGs and hosts an annual workshop for LAGs to meet and share progress. Non-native Species LAG coordinators and volunteers work with land owners to control INNS in catchment areas to reduce the risk of reinvasion. LAGs provide a key resource to help manage many species and raise awareness and they have mobilised a large number of volunteers in the fight against INNS. Other stakeholders also play a key role, such as Angling Trust members undertaking clearance of Himalayan balsam on river banks and trapping signal crayfish in their ponds. British Canoeing participates in our strategic approach to floating pennywort control and its members are engaged in organised control work alongside the Environment Agency and the Canal and River Trust.
We will examine the Environmental Audit Committee’s recommendation, and in particular the New Zealand model that it promotes for the mobilisation of large numbers of people. Citizen science is a vital addition to Government surveillance, providing more eyes on the ground and shared responsibility, which improves our overall biosecurity culture. We are assessing the options to facilitate the expansion of current local action into a ‘biosecurity citizens’ army’.
Asked by: Anna McMorrin (Labour - Cardiff North)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of (a) the contribution of the commercial crayfish industry to the UK economy and (b) the cost to the UK economy of signal crayfish damage and control.
Answered by Victoria Prentis - Attorney General
We have made no specific assessment of the contribution of the crayfish industry to the UK economy. As part of the development of the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019, we engaged with representatives of the crayfish industry to understand the impact of the Order on their businesses.
The 2010 technical report “The economic cost of invasive non-native species on Great Britain” investigated the cost of signal crayfish to the GB economy in regard to management, riverbank restoration, angling and research. The total cost to GB was found to be £2,689,000 annually (England: £1,538,000; Wales: £576,000; Scotland: £575,000. Northern Ireland has no populations of signal crayfish).
Defra recently published the results of a scoping study documenting the current evidence in relation to the ecosystem service impacts of invasive non-native species (INNS) in the UK. This study[1] sought to determine the feasibility of expanding on the 2010 report by estimating natural capital costs resulting from INNS, alongside the direct economic costs which were the focus of the 2010 report. This found that the costs of control were higher than the reported economic impacts, but these did not include river bank damage or wider ecosystem costs.
[1] Scoping study: ecosystem services and natural capital costs of invasive non-native species in the UK - BE0162 http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Default.aspx?Menu=Menu&Module=More&Location=None&Completed=1&ProjectID=20315