Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by Andrew Pelling (Conservative). It was answered by Ben Bradshaw (Labour) on Thursday, 1 February 2007 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Fisheries

Question: What percentage of the population of (a) cod, (b) sole and (c) plaice are expected to be removed from UK seas per year under new quotas.

Answer: It is not possible to provide a figure for UK seas because fish move around. Quotas are set for stocks in general and UK fishermen fish outside UK waters in the same way as fishermen from other member states fish inside UK waters. However, approximate estimates of the agreements reached on the stocks that the hon. Gentleman refers to would amount to removal of between 10 per cent. and 60 per cent., depending on the state of the stock. Of those stocks, the UK’s share of the total allowable catch ranges from 4 per cent. for North sea sole to 61 per cent. for west of Scotland plaice.

Secondary information