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Dept for Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Answer

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when, at the rate of depletion in 2000, stocks of (a) cod, (b) herring, (c) mackerel and (d) plaice will be fished out in (i) UK and (ii) EU waters; and if she will make a statement. [27164] Mr. Morley: It is not possible or meaningful to answer the question in the terms asked. Stock levels in future years will depend, in part, on the abundance of future broods of young fish not yet spawned. Also, the stocks are subject to a range of management measures aimed at restoring them, although the outcome of these measures cannot be precisely predicted at present, the assumption underlying the question that these measures will have no effect is not a reasonable hypothesis. Rather than the rate of depletion of stocks, the indicators used for the state of fish stocks are, for each stock, the spawning stock biomass and the level of fishing mortality. Where these indicators fall below the precautionary benchmarks established by scientists, the scientific advice is that action should be taken to raise them to within safe biological limits. The recovery plans already in place for northern hake and for cod in the North sea, Irish sea and west of Scotland and now proposed by the commission for further stocks, together with the decisions taken by the Council of Ministers to set TACs and quotas for 2002 in line with scientific advice, are aimed at reversing decline in fish stocks where it is occurring and is of concern, rather than allowing it to continue.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

378 c786-7W;378 c782-3W; 27164

Session

2001-02

Subjects

Conservation EU countries Fisheries Fish White fish Herring Plaice Mackerel

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk