Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, this amendment was previously tabled in Committee. The Minister gave us many assurances that current legislation would certainly allow for the enforcement of certain methods and equipment, and that these powers would be exercised to reduce by-catch. I tabled the amendment in order to probe the Government’s policy on by-catch a little further. I am afraid that I will raise again the ever-present spectre of EU legislation, which is why I did not raise this point in Committee but, instead, left it for the less drawn-out Report stage. What are the Government doing at the European level to make the necessary changes to reduce the shocking number of fish that are thrown back, dead or dying, to meet quota requirements that limit only the amount of fish landed, not the amount of fish caught? It has to be at the European level, if it is to have any effect. The discard figures are truly shocking. What is worse, according to figures provided last November to my honourable friend in another place, they are not improving. Over 80 per cent of the cod caught by Scottish-registered vessels was discarded in 2007. The figures are not much better for other species. Rather confusingly, however, they appear to be a little better—only 40 per cent—in English and Welsh-registered vessels. If the Minister has any information to explain this discrepancy I would be very glad to hear it. Even 40 per cent is deeply disappointing, but the high figures are not surprising. On an extremely useful visit to the research vessel "Cefas Endeavour" a few weeks ago, we saw how a simple change in the way that nets were strung could significantly impact on the ability of small fish to slip through and escape. We were also shown a chart that showed how fish of different species are a similar size at different stages of their lives, so that young cod—which are too small to meet the quota requirements—are caught in nets designed to catch adult haddock. The obvious solution for fishermen struggling to sustain their living and to meet the quota requirements is to catch everything and throw back what they cannot sell. This is not acceptable. The quota is there to protect and restore fish stocks, not to limit fishermen’s income. If it is not achieving the former, it is achieving nothing. The Conservative Party has come up with a proposal that would improve our knowledge of just how many fish are caught and discarded and stop the wasteful practice of dumping dead fish back into the sea. We propose establishing a pilot scheme whereby all fish that was caught would be landed. Fishermen would receive a share of the commercial value of the by-catch, a proportion of which would be dependent on the sustainability of their equipment and fishing methods in order to reward good practice. This would not solve the problem overnight, but as has been made clear over the past months, one of the great obstacles to the effective implementation of a sustainable marine policy is the lack of accurate information about so much in our seas. By-catch is no exception; the figures that have been published are subject to all sorts of health warnings due to the expense of monitoring fish catches accurately. Our proposal would mean much less distortion of the figures and therefore a better chance of accurately calculating how many fish remain. It would also prevent waste. Under the current system, these fish are being killed anyway; they are being poured back into the sea to rot. I do not expect the Minister to come back with an amendment that resolves this issue—that clearly is impossible—but I hope that he will be able to come back with more information on what the Government are doing about the problem and what chance he thinks there is of meaningful reform of the quota requirements in the near future. I beg to move.