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Fisheries: Manpower

Volume 462: debated on Monday 25 June 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many fishermen there were in (a) Cornwall, (b) the South West and (c) the UK in each year since 1979; and what proportion of the total workforce they made up in each year. (144233)

The information requested, for the UK and the South West, is shown in the following table where available. A breakdown of the number of fishermen in Cornwall is not available.

Numbers of UK fishermen based in:Overall workforce2

South West England1

Total UK

South West England

Total UK

1979

26,541,000

1980

23,309

26,863,000

1981

23,990

27,093,000

1982

23,011

26,892,000

1983

22,587

26,653,000

1984

21,869

27,485,000

1985

22,224

27,710,000

1986

22,634

27,837,000

1987

22,424

28,092,000

1988

22,320

28,439,000

1989

28,815,000

1990

28,925,000

1991

28,807,000

1992

2,326,000

28,428,000

1993

2,326,000

28,234,000

1994

3,203

20,703

2,346,000

28,201,000

1995

3,090

19,986

2,356,000

28,202,000

1996

2,909

19,044

2,359,000

28,345,000

1997

2,767

18,604

2,402,000

28,492,000

1998

2,841

17,889

2,413,000

28,497,000

1999

2,485

16,896

2,444,000

28,811,000

2000

2,449

15,649

2,464,000

29,071,000

2001

2,336

14,958

2,474,000

29,122,000

2002

2,309

14,205

2,502,000

29,399,000

2003

2,403

13,122

2,514,000

29,645,000

2004

2,502

13,453

2,533,000

29,839,000

2005

2,331

12,647

2,557,000

30,100,000

2006

2,575,000

30,552,000

1 Based on vessels licensed at the administrative ports of Brixham, Newlyn and Plymouth, Marine Fisheries Agency.

2 Economically active persons in the UK aged over 16 estimated by the Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics.