Written question asked by Lord Krebs (Crossbench) on Monday, 13 October 2025, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 27 October 2025. It was answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock (Labour) on Friday, 24 October 2025 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Fishing Catches

Question: To ask His Majesty's Government, following the publication of the report of Oceana UK Deep Decline in October, what consideration they have given to setting a legally binding deadline to end overfishing.

Answer: The Fisheries Act 2020 contains a commitment to recover stocks to sustainable levels through the development of Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs). We are taking this approach having learned from the well-intentioned but ultimately unachievable single deadline set out in the European Union’s Common Fisheries Policy for getting all fish stocks to “Maximum Sustainable Yield” (MSY). Our FMPs allow us to assess the state of the stocks and set out a series of tailored and evidence-based short-, medium- and long-term measures to maintain or restore stocks to MSY.

Secondary information