Fish: Conservation

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs written question – answered at on 15 April 2021.

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Photo of Virginia Crosbie Virginia Crosbie Conservative, Ynys Môn

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on fish stocks of limiting the size of fishing vessels in the (a) UK's Marine Protected Areas and (b) 6-12 nautical mile fishing zone.

Photo of Victoria Prentis Victoria Prentis The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Marine protection is a devolved matter and the information below relates to England only.

No such assessments have been made as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) commonly protect seabed habitats and are generally not the best method of protecting commercial fish stocks, which need to be protected across their range and not just within the boundaries of an MPA. In addition, the impact a fishing vessel has on a site is determined by how damaging the fishing method is, rather than the size of the vessel.

Vessels fishing in the 6-12nm tend to be smaller and more local day boats. Their catches are limited by quotas, effort limits or local rules. Larger vessels have more flexibility about where they can fish and tend to go further off-shore. There are restrictions on gear types and engine size in the zone, for example restricting the size of beam trawlers, and these apply to UK and EU vessels.

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