Our inquiry
4. In July 2003, we decided to investigate by-catch
of small cetaceans by the fishing industry operating off the UK
coast. We were particularly interested in examining the scale
and causes of by-catch, and the relevant research. We also set
out to consider the likely effectiveness of the proposals in the
Government's UK small cetacean by-catch response strategy,
and what further steps should be taken either by the Government
or by the European Union to address the problem. The European
Commission published its draft regulation subsequent to our announcement
of our terms of reference, and we have taken it into account in
our consideration of our inquiry.
5. We appointed a Sub-committee, under the chairmanship
of Candy Atherton MP, to carry out the inquiry. It received 16
written memoranda and took oral evidence from: Nick Tregenza,
an academic from south-west England studying cetacean by-catch
in that area; the Association of Sea Fisheries Committees; the
Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and The Wildlife Trusts;
the National Association of Fishermen's Organisations; Linda Hingley,
a Devon resident who has set up an organisation, Brixham Seawatch,
to record cetacean strandings on the south-west coast; and the
Minister for Nature Conservation and Fisheries, Ben Bradshaw MP,
together with Defra officials. We are grateful to all those who
gave evidence or otherwise assisted our inquiry.
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