Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

I want to raise one more point on Amendment A10. The Minister will recall that, on the issue of planning, we discussed the Bristol Channel and he said that we could not resolve it in any other way because it was a devolved matter. Amendment A10 refers to the appropriate inshore fisheries conservation authority. I wonder if the Minister is aware that, in meeting members of the various sea fishing committees who are over in Brussels today, the EU Fisheries Commissioner, Mr Borg, is advocating the extension of the Brittany maritime charter approach to the whole of the Channel area, including fish, and that the Commission is intending parallel work in the Baltic to establish joint policies. Could not the same be relevant to the Bristol Channel area? All it will take is talking to the Welsh devolved authority. I am aware that Defra has just put out for consultation the shape that the IFCA areas should take. I believe that three different options are listed on its maps and no doubt all have their merits. But I have to come back to the same point as regards the Bristol Channel: given all the other pressures, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, reasonably to decide where the IFCAs should begin and end, even given that some of the territorial waters fall to Wales and some to England. A joint approach is really the only one, and if the commission is looking at this for other joint areas, could we not lead the way with a pilot between England and Wales?