Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, the noble Lady, Lady Saltoun, has tabled extensive amendments which have a wonderful rationale for recommendation because they would reduce the size of the Bill considerably. If we all agreed to her demands, 40 clauses would be removed. I applaud her courage. The sheer number of amendments helps to support the noble Lady’s argument that legislation relating to fisheries is complicated and confusing. New provisions and complex amendments to existing legislation mean that clarity is distorted and it is difficult for people to understand their legal position and to comply with the law. That is at the heart of the noble Lady’s argument. The new clauses in this Bill mean that another layer of complexity is added to fisheries legislation which will serve to make compliance with the law more difficult. Legislation cannot be useful if those it is intended to guide and limit are not sure where the boundaries are. I therefore support the noble Lady’s call for a consolidated body of fisheries legislation. There are a huge raft of measures contained in the provisions to which she objects—the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act, the Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act, the migratory and freshwater fish regulations—and the repeal of the obsolete fisheries enactments. While I am supportive of many of the clauses, I am also aware that their success depends on people being able to understand them and so to obey. With this in mind, I agree with the noble Lady’s suggestion that we must find a way to clarify fisheries legislation. Reading through these chapters, I find it quaint that one of the Acts to be repealed is the White Herring Fisheries Act 1771. There can be no doubt that the MMO would have difficulty in carrying out any function under the Bering Sea Award Act 1894. Could the Minister tell us what that was? Does he agree that there is a potential problem here? Does he agree that a consolidated version of all fisheries legislation might be useful? Do the Government have plans to make the legislation easier to understand? We all look forward to his response.