Fishing Catches

Mr. Steen
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the tonnage of fish which was (a) landed and (b) caught and thrown back because of quota allowances by inshore under 10 metre fishing vessels in the latest period for which figures are available.

Mr. Bradshaw
In 2006, the UK 10 metre and under fleet landed 7,286 tonnes of fish subject to quotas. Estimates of the level of fish discards are made by scientists involved in the assessment of the state of fish stocks. However, these are made at the level of the overall fish stock rather than for individual segments of the fleet. In addition, such estimates are not made for the full range of fish stocks caught by the 10 metre and under fleet. As such, an estimate of the level of discards attributable to this fleet is not available.