Key Facts

• Amendment 61 would place a duty on public authorities regarding fisheries objectives.
• Amendment 62 would require the Secretary of State to lay an annual statement before Parliament on progress towards achieving fisheries objectives.
• The first such statement must be laid within 12 months of the section coming into force.
• Amendment 61 requires public bodies to have due regard for sustainability objectives.
• Amendment 62 mandates that a report be laid before Parliament annually.
• The amendments seek to prevent overfishing by prioritizing sustainability.
• Amendment 71 would add two new objectives to clause 1 of the Fisheries Bill.
• The 'public asset objective' aims to manage fisheries as a shared resource held in stewardship for the public good.
• The 'safety and workforce objective' includes provisions to protect worker safety, set minimum employment standards, prevent modern slavery, and enforce national minimum wage laws on fishing vessels within UK waters.
• Labour suggests adding two further objectives: public asset and safety and workforce.
• The public asset objective is meant to deliver on the pledge in the Government’s original fisheries White Paper.
• The amendment aims to treat fishing quota as a permission rather than a property right.
• Up to 50% of quota is owned by families on the Sunday Times rich list.
• Fish stocks should deliver an economic benefit to the UK as a public asset.
• Griffin Carpenter, from the New Economics Foundation, testified that fish are a public good but treatment varies.
• Aaron Brown from Fishing for Leave agrees fish are a public resource based on Magna Carta principles.
• Two trawlers from Plymouth have been lost since 2017 with loss of life.
• Seafish provided advice over the summer regarding modification of lifejackets and PLBs, raising safety concerns.
• Modern slavery exists in the UK fishing sector and needs to be addressed specifically in legislation.
• Luke Pollard highlights the need for a base minimum wage for fishermen.
• There is debate over whether the safety objective should be mandatory or optional.
• Clause 35(1)(e) allows for health and safety funding but does not mandate it.
• The United Nations convention on the law of the sea establishes UK sovereign rights over marine resources within its exclusive economic zone.
• UK case law, including Malcolmson v. O’Dea from 1863, confirms fish as a public asset held by the Crown for public benefit.
• Most UK fishing opportunities are managed through fixed quota allocation units (FQAs), which do not confer ownership of fish but provide rights to shares of available quotas.
• Amendments aim to alter the sustainability, ecosystem, scientific evidence, and climate change objectives in the Fisheries Bill.
• Amendment 74 would add avoidance of aquatic environment degradation to the definition of the ‘ecosystem objective’.
• Amendment 75 changes the definition of the ‘ecosystem objective’ to include reversing negative impacts on marine ecosystems.
• Amendment 79 extends the definition of the ‘equal access objective’ to cover equal access to fishing opportunities.
• Government's programme creates legal and devolution constitutional issues.
• Fishing quota above scientific advice prevented closure of valuable fisheries in the south-west.
• Fish caught near seabed plus landings of cuttlefish were worth about £57 million in 2018.
• Actions include an ambitious Environment Bill covering marine environment, annual statements on stock assessment, and measures to increase number of stocks fished at maximum sustainable yield.
• The UK currently has data available for just over 100 fish stocks.
• Amendment 74 would extend the scope of the Fisheries Bill to freshwater ecosystems, which are already regulated under existing legislation such as the Environment Act 1995 and the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975.
• The UK is developing plans for cetacean and seabird bycatch through monitoring programmes.
• The CFP’s landing obligation was fully implemented last year, requiring all species subject to catch limits to be landed and counted against quota.
• Government amendment 1 seeks to remove the sustainability objective from the Fisheries Bill.
• Pollard argues for the importance of sustainable fishing practices, including setting total allowable catches at or below MSY levels.
• Labour supports moving to zonal attachment rather than relative stability.
• The Lords amendment was passed with near cross-party support.
• Labour argued for signing up to the UN 2030 target for fully protected waters.
• The goal is to have 30% of UK waters fully protected by 2030.
• There is no current plan to decarbonise the entire fishing fleet by 2030.
• Some smaller vessels use thousands of litres of diesel per trip.
• Propulsion lifetime expectations are within the planning horizon for many fishers.
• Proposed new clause 1(10)(a)(iii) in amendment 73 addresses phasing out fossil fuels.
• Amendment 73 aims to ensure a plan is prepared for achieving net zero emissions.
• Labour Members disagree with Government amendment 1.
• The discard ban is causing difficulties for fishers, leading to discarding of fish due to lack of quota.
• Fish do not follow international boundaries, posing challenges in governance.
• DEFRA denied the bluefin catch-and-release fishery in the south-west.
• Amendment 73 concerns net zero and decarbonising the fishing industry.
• The speaker supports Government amendment 1.
• Environmental NGOs are expected to challenge decisions in court.
• Fishing above maximum sustainable yield (MSY) levels is seen as a practical measure for specific reasons like choke species.
• Other countries, such as Australia, include sustainability as a prime objective in their fisheries legislation.
• Amendments aim to protect marine ecosystems and prevent illegal discarding of fish.
• In 2020, only 59% of UK’s fish stocks were fished sustainably, a decrease from previous years.
• The UK fails to meet 11 out of 15 indicators of marine health set in its marine strategy.
• The current fishing level is at about 67% of MSY.
• In 1990, fishing levels were at 10% of sustainable stocks.
• Following zero TAC advice for whiting in the Irish Sea could close a nephrops fishery critical to Northern Ireland's economy with landings averaging 15 million per year over five years.
• Fishing accounts for about 10% of domestic shipping CO2 emissions.