“(1) The Secretary of State may make regulations to control the creation and disposal of plastic waste in all areas of the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone except for Scotland, the Scottish zone, Wales, the Welsh zone, Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland zone during fishing activities.

(2) Regulations under this section may make provision—

(a) to prohibit the disposal of plastic items while at sea;

(b) to require plastic items to be disposed of at specified onshore processing facilities;

(c) to require the amount of plastic waste produced during fishing activities to be recorded;

(d) to prohibit the use of certain categories of plastic item during fishing activities;

(e) to require the holder of a licence to fish granted under this Act to publish a plan for the reduction of plastic waste if the annual value of the fish landed by the licence holder exceeds £1,000,000.

(3) Regulations under this section are subject to the affirmative procedure.”.—

This new clause would enable the Secretary of State to make regulations to control the creation and disposal of plastic waste in England and in English waters during fishing activities.

Brought up, and read the First time.

I beg to move, That the Clause be read a Second time.

New clause 12 enables the Secretary of State to make regulations to control the creation and disposal of plastic waste during fishing activities in all areas of the UK’s exclusive economic zone, except for the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish zones. The new clause, as with others we have proposed, has sustainability at its heart.

According to estimates from Greenpeace, 12.7 million tonnes of plastic go into our oceans every year. That is the same as a truckload of rubbish every minute. Of course, that cannot be solely attributed to the fishing industry, and clearly wider societal and environmental action is needed to tackle it in addition to the measures set out in the new clause, but plastic waste generated by fishing is a contributory factor. For example, an estimated 20% of fishing gear is lost at sea in the EU. Another example is the great Pacific garbage patch, which the Shadow Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport, mentioned when the Fisheries Bill was before the House in the last Parliament.

Does the hon. Lady agree that a huge amount of the plastic in the oceans is coming from the land and running into rivers? The new Clause is well intentioned, and I completely share the hon. Lady’s aim to reduce plastic in the environment, but it may create a bigger burden on an industry whose contribution is de minimis to the plastic that is floating around in the ocean.

If the hon. Lady had been listening to my speech, she would have noted that I just said that of course the fishing industry cannot be fully responsible, but it can play its part. Statistics highlighted by The Ocean Cleanup conservation group show an area of floating rubbish totalling 79,000 tonnes, most of which is abandoned fishing gear and other plastic waste. Clearly the UK is not responsible for all fishing gear lost at sea in the EU, or for plastic waste in the Pacific, but there is no reason why we should not set the standard and be world leaders in tackling plastic waste in our own waters.

We have an opportunity with the Bill and with the new Clause to tackle this problem and to make an important contribution to broader efforts to protect our environment. The new clause is not radical, nor would it damage the industry or constrain or tie the Government into any particular course of action. I urge the Government to accept the new clause.

Tackling the scourge of plastic pollution in the ocean is a priority for the Government and for me personally. While the proposed new Clause rightly recognises the importance of tackling plastic pollution, it is not necessary in the Bill because it replicates existing legislation.

The Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Garbage) Regulations 1998 prohibits the disposal of plastic items at sea, including fishing gear. Adequate disposal facilities are already required under the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Port Waste Reception Facilities) Regulations 2003. Under the Merchant Shipping (Prevention of Pollution by Garbage from Ships) Regulations 2020, larger vessels are required to complete a garbage record book to record waste and complete a garbage management plan to minimise, collect, store, process and dispose of garbage.

Clause 38(4) already provides a power to make regulations for a conservation purpose, which can cover the design and use of sea fishing equipment and the retrieval of lost or discarded sea fishing equipment. There is already a very full legislative framework that regulates the disposal of plastic waste, including fishing gear, from fishing vessels, without the need for this new clause. I recognise why it might have been thought that the new clause was necessary, but given the plethora of legislation in the area, we need to work on enforcement, not legislation. I ask the hon. Member to withdraw the motion.

As the Minister points out, we need to work on enforcement, which is clearly not working. I am disappointed that she will not accept the new Clause, but I am happy to beg to ask leave to withdraw the motion.

Clause, by leave, withdrawn.