Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

The noble Baroness’s amendment draws attention to the wording of Clause 152, in particular subsection (1). Once again, my amendments in this group overlap, on this occasion with the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Wallace. However, I would like to think that my drafting meets the concerns of his Amendment A234B and goes a little further. Amendments A234AA and A234AB would extend the powers of IFCAs beyond the prevention or restriction of particularly damaging methods of fishing or types of fishing equipment and would allow them to insist on certain more environmentally friendly methods or equipment. As the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, highlights, this would be a useful power as regards the minimisation of by-catch. The ongoing research into new technologies to reduce incidental damage to species or sizes of fish not commercially exploitable will, I hope, soon produce results. IFCAs would therefore benefit from the option of the take-up of those new technologies at some point in the future.