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Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food

Answer

Mr. David Porter: To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the age and efficiency of the British fishing fleet; how he proposes to modernise it; what comparative statistics he has in respect of the figures for the (a) Dutch, (b) Spanish and (c) Danish fleets; and if he will make a statement. [8371] Mr. Baldry: The table gives details of the ages of fishing vessels in the UK, Dutch, Spanish and Danish fleets as at the end of 1991, the latest year for which such comparative data are available. Selected member states of the European Union fishing fleets as at 31 December 1991 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Age in years Not known 0.0-4.9 5.0-9.9 10.0-14.9 15.0-19.9 20.0-24.9 25.0 and Total over Number of vessels United Kingdom 955 1,564 1,381 1,865 1,554 1,060 2,525 10,904 Netherlands 83 187 234 235 140 79 508 1,466 Spain 231 1,651 2,409 1,916 2,922 2,746 8,713 20,588 Denmark 180 105 303 416 686 323 1,712 3,725 GRT (000 tonnes) United Kingdom 4 31 18 31 45 30 52 211 Netherlands 0 60 47 22 15 4 24 173 Spain 18 113 53 53 159 102 57 656 Denmark 0 1 19 6 30 16 45 118 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Source: Eurostat FISHERIES--yearly statistics 1994. There is no generally recognised measure of the efficiency of fishing fleets, which depends on a range of variable factors, including the skills of the fishermen involved. The question of modernisation is primarily a matter for the commercial judgment of those in the industry. Any use of taxpayers money should concentrate on the need to reduce capacity to bring the fleet into better balance with what stocks will bear.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

8371; 269 c686W;269 c684W

Session

1995-96

Subjects

Fishing vessels Netherlands Spain Denmark

Contains statistics

Yes