Fisheries Administrations regularly undertake quota swaps to support the diverse needs of our inshore fleet. The following table sets out details of the numbers of quota swaps undertaken on their behalf by Fisheries Administrations since January 2005. The monthly breakdown relates to the month the swaps were attributed to the 10 metre and under allocation:
March April May June July August September October November December End year swaps Total 2005 Tonnes gained — 137 37 136 338 172 343 135 171 134 47 1,650 Number of swaps — 15 3 5 25 7 18 9 11 3 9 105 2006 Tonnes gained 10 741 258 163 64 194 165 85 78 134 144 2,036 Number of swaps 1 13 16 17 4 14 18 7 10 18 23 141 2007 Tonnes gained — 700 117 112 — — — — — — — 829 Number of swaps — 19 16 12 — — — — — — — 37 1 Completed as of 12 June 2007.
DEFRA Ministers will meet Ministers from the new administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to discuss a range of issues, including the Marine Bill, in the week commencing 18 June.
As with the previous administrations, there will continue to be regular contact on the Marine Bill between DEFRA and the devolved administrations. I am committed to working with the devolved administrations to bring a joined-up approach, through the Marine Bill proposals, to the delivery of our shared vision for clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas.
No. The arrangements for allocating quota to inshore and other vessels are a matter for individual member states. In the UK the management of the inshore fleet, including these vessels' access to quota, is being considered in the context of the current quota management change programme, with a view to public consultation later this year.
The issue of the application of days at sea limits to under 10 metre vessels has already been considered in the context of the cod recovery plan. The conclusion at Community level was that this was not appropriate, since the large number of these vessels in the UK and other fleets made both the administration and enforcement of the controls potentially extremely difficult and resource intensive. We were supportive of this line and remain so.