To ask Her Majesty's Government how many British-owned (a) onshore fishing vessels, and (b) offshore fishing vessels, were registered in the United Kingdom at 31 December in each year since 1980. [HL2103]

The Marine and Fisheries Agency has provided the data requested (produced on a UK basis); these are shown in the table below. I assume the noble Lord is defining “onshore” as those UK fishing vessels less than or equal to 10 metres in overall length (under-10m) and “offshore” as those over 10 metres in length (over-10m).

Vessel data for 31 December 1980 to 31 December 1989 are available only in terms of those vessels under and over 40 feet in length, rather than 10 metres, and relate to the active rather than the registered UK fishing fleet. The data for 1990 onwards reflect the registered UK fishing fleet divided between those vessels under-10m and those over-10m. The statistics for the active fleet given for 31 December 1989 and earlier years understate the overall size of the fleet; the registered fleet exceeded the active fleet by about 3,000 vessels in 1991, when the earlier statistical series was replaced.