Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many pollack otolith bones were analysed by his Department in International Centre for the Exploration of the Seas area (a) VI and (b) VII in 2019.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Data is provided only for International Centre for the Exploration of the Seas Area VII. My department has not analysed pollack otolith bones from Area VI.
In 2023, 778 otolith bones were analysed by Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many pollack otolith bones were analysed by his Department in International Centre for the Exploration of the Seas area (a) VI and (b) VII in 2020.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Data is provided only for International Centre for the Exploration of the Seas Area VII. My department has not analysed pollack otolith bones from Area VI.
In 2020, 732 otolith bones were analysed by Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many pollack were sampled by his Department for (a) length and (b) sex in International Centre for the Exploration of the Seas area (i) VI and (ii) VII in 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Data is provided only for International Centre for the Exploration of the Seas Area VII. My department has not sampled pollack from Area VI.
a) In 2023, 3726 pollack length measurements were made by Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.
b) It is not possible to provide data on sex as fish are gutted when sampled in markets and examination of gonads is required to accurately determine sex.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many pollack otolith bones were collected by his Department in International Centre for the Exploration of the Seas area (a) VI and (b) VII in 2019.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Data is provided only for International Centre for the Exploration of the Seas Area VII. My department has not collected pollack otolith bones from Area VI.
In 2019, 781 otolith bones were collected by Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the fisheries transparency reforms introduced by Thailand's government in 2015 on fish stocks in the region.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are monitoring developments regarding proposals to reform Thailand's Fisheries Act and are engaging with relevant organisations to understand the potential impact of these reforms. The UK complies with its international obligations to maintain labour, maritime and environmental standards, and we encourage other countries to do the same.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with representatives of Thailand's government on its proposed fishing reforms.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are monitoring developments regarding proposals to reform Thailand's Fisheries Act and are engaging with relevant organisations to understand the potential impact of these reforms. The UK complies with its international obligations to maintain labour, maritime and environmental standards, and we encourage other countries to do the same.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many pollack otolith bones were analysed by his Department in International Centre for the Exploration of the Seas area (a) VI and (b) VII in 2021.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Data is provided only for International Centre for the Exploration of the Seas Area VII. My department has not analysed pollack otolith bones from Area VI.
In 2021, 818 otolith bones were analysed by Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate his Department has made of the cumulative days of fishing by vessels carrying (a) bottom trawls, (b) dredges and (c) other bottom-towed gear in the UK’s 63 offshore benthic MPAs in 2023.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
The designation and management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is a devolved competency and the information provided therefore relates to England only.
Estimates of fishing effort in offshore MPAs are made as part of the Marine Management Organisation’s (MMO) work to assess and manage the impacts of fishing in all English offshore MPAs. These estimates have been published in economic and fisheries assessments on GOV.UK alongside byelaws for the first two stages of the MMO’s four stage programme to manage fishing activity in all English offshore MPAs. MMO is currently undertaking further analysis covering 43 offshore MPAs which will be published in due course, alongside consultations on any proposed byelaws.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of fishing by China’s state-sponsored distant water fleet in the (a) Andaman Sea and (b) Gulf of Thailand.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to engaging with other countries, including China, to sustainably manage fisheries, protect ecosystems and combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. We support ocean protection through appropriate funding. For example, at the G7 Leaders Summit in Cornwall, the Government pledged £500 million to create our Blue Planet Fund to help developing countries protect the ocean from pollution, overfishing and habitat loss. We also push for multilateral action internationally, including through Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, the Convention of Biological Diversity and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation. The UK remains committed to international law and UNCLOS.
China is building a network of fishing bases in developing countries across four continents. Comprising ports, boats, and fish processing plants, the bases service China's distant-water fleet: an armada of over 4,600 vessels (potentially many more) that operates in the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of 42 countries and accounts for 14 percent of worldwide marine catch by value.
Asked by: Daniel Zeichner (Labour - Cambridge)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many studies the Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science has (a) conducted and (b) completed using close-kin DNA analysis; and on what species those studies focused.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Close-kin DNA analysis is a relatively new scientific method for assessing the genetic profile and abundance of animal populations. While it has been used in fish populations elsewhere, including on thornback ray in the Bay of Biscay, the planned scientific study with pollack in the English Channel would be the first time Cefas have used it in the UK.