Written question asked by Candy Atherton (Labour) on Tuesday, 15 March 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 21 March 2005. It was answered by Ben Bradshaw (Labour) on Monday, 21 March 2005 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many UK fishing vessels fish with (a) gill net and (b) tangle net; and what length of each type of net is deployed.

Answer: Ms Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many UK fishing vessels fish with (a) gill net and (b) tangle net; and what length of each type of net is deployed. [222862] Mr. Bradshaw: Reliable information on the number of UK vessels fishing with gill nets and tangle nets is only available for those over 10 metres in length. In 2004, 84 of these fished with gill nets and 34 with tangle nets. The length of each type of net can typically be between 100 metres and 10,000 metres depending on the species being targeted.

Secondary information