Fishery Limits (United Kingdom) Bill [HL]

My Lords, the noble Lord chooses a good example, in the sense that it is hard to argue against that. However, I am particularly thinking of last week’s issues, headlined in the Western Morning News, of the Cornish fishermen prosecuted for more significant and practical infringements. One of the biggest grumbles was that the offences were a couple of years old and that the prosecutions had taken some time. I am coming to the end of what is a reasonable time to speak at this point on a Thursday, so I shall mention briefly another couple of questions for the Minister. First, I hope that the UK Government, under the EU thematic strategy when it is published, will do something to address the way in which the European Union fleet predates on the rest of the world’s ocean, particularly that of small, coastal and artisanal fisheries in the developing countries. All of this House would agree that it was disgraceful to move into those countries where food production was already a problem, to scoop up some of the very basic livelihood that their people have. My second point is on aquaculture. What are the Government doing about its environmental impact, much of which was outlined in the Royal Commission’s report? I shall not go into that now. Lastly, I wish to underline the point that Charles Clover laid out so well in his excellent book The End of the Line. All of us as consumers are guilty—perhaps noble Lords particularly so, even when we eat in our own restaurant—of eating fish without recognising that some types, such as bass, are not sustainable. Bass fishing through pair trawling is a danger to dolphins. Also, should you order bass you would realise, given its size—no bigger than the piece of paper that I am holding—that they are caught before they can even spawn. We all have a responsibility as consumers to ensure that we do not eat too much fish. The Government also have a responsibility in that the Food Standards Agency recommends that we should eat more fish, and promotes the message that fish is healthy and good for children’s brain development. Yesterday fish was mentioned as an antidote to colon cancer. The agency needs to assess the environmental impact of its suggestions. It should get together with the other agencies concerned with those issues to ensure that its suggestions are not as environmentally detrimental as they seem at present. I shall not vote against the Bill at Second Reading out of courtesy—it is a convention of the House that a Bill should have its Committee stage. But if my not voting against the Bill at any stage is taken as assent to it, I shall have to move to a vote.