Clause 168
Marine and Coastal Access Bill [Lords]
11:30 am
Martin Salter (Reading West, Labour)
Sadly, I am not the Minister, but I can give my view on that important point. The Committee will be aware that fish do not read maps. We can designate IFCAs and boundaries between the Environment Agency and the enhanced sea fisheries committees, but at the end of the day, a migratory fish species will move from saline water up through the estuaries, hopefully, if not over-exploited or poached, into the hon. Gentleman’s wonderful constituency of Brecon and Radnorshire. The Environment Agency is already the sea fisheries power out to the 6 nautical mile-limit, and its important role is recognised in the current arrangements, as it has been in previous legislation, as the prime agency with responsibility for migratory fish. Committee members should make no mistake: the economic value of salmon in particular is immense, and is considerably more valuable than commercial fishing interests in many regions of the country.