To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the plus minus 10 per cent tolerance was first applied to estimating fish weights in logbooks on fishing vessels of 10 metres and over in length; and whether there has been a recorded change in the average variation between logbook entries and sales notes data over that period.

The 10% tolerance became a requirement for fishing vessels of 10 metres and over in length following a revision to the EU Control Regulation in 2009. Prior to this regulation coming into force, EU legislation mandated differentiated tolerances for various species of fish. Since this date, data held by the Marine Management Organisation indicates that between 56% and 64% of fishing vessels submitted logbook data within the 10% tolerance.