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Fisheries: Standards

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what (a) targets and (b) deadlines for achieving them were set out in each Marine and Fisheries Business Plan published by his Department since 1997; which targets were (i)
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reached and (ii) not reached by the deadlines; and if he will make a statement. [173006]

Jonathan Shaw: DEFRA’s Marine and Fisheries Directorate was established on 1 April 2006. Business plans were published for 2006-07 and 2007-08, and copies are available in the House of Commons Library. They set out the work and milestones of the directorate for this period, and the 2007-08 plan includes a review of the previous year’s progress.

I am pleased to say that the Government have made considerable progress on a wide range of marine and fisheries issues. We published the Marine Bill White Paper in March 2007 and plan to publish the draft Bill next year.

We have delivered key UK objectives on a number of important marine and fisheries portfolios at European Council and international meetings, including changes to allow more informed decision making on fish quotas and technical regulations and on the Marine Strategy Directive.

There have been important improvements in fisheries management in response to the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit report “Net Benefits”. We have also secured amendments to the London and OSPAR conventions to allow carbon storage on the sea bed. This has the potential to be a significant means of ameliorating the effects of carbon emissions.

Fisheries: Subsidies

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much fisheries-related funding was allocated from the EU to the UK in each year since 1997, broken down by (a) region and (b) fisheries administration; and if he will make a statement. [171682]

Jonathan Shaw: The fisheries-related allocations from the EU to the UK were as follows:

1997-99

UK Objective 5a programme (England , Lowland Scotland , Wales)

(The EU did not provide an allocation by region for this programme)

1997: 14.8 mecus (£10.2 million)

1998: 14.8 mecus (£10.2 million)

1999: 14.8 mecus (£10.2 million)

UK Objective 1 programmes

	Merseyside		Scotland Highlands and Islands		Northern Ireland
	Mecus	£ million	Mecus	£ million	Mecus	£ million
1997	0.1	0.1	3.1	2.1	2.5	1.7
1998	0.1	0.1	3.1	2.1	2.5	1.7
1999	0.1	0.1	2.7	1.8	2.5	1.7

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Fisheries element of UK PESCA programme

	England		Lowland Scotland		Scotland Highlands and Islands		Wales		Northern Ireland
	Mecus	£ million	Mecus	£ million	Mecus	£ million	Mecus	£ million	Mecus	£ million
1997	0.9	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.6	0.4	0.02	0.01	0.1	0.04
1998	0.7	0.5	0.4	0.2	0.5	0.3	0.01	0.01	0.1	0.04
1999	0.8	0.6	0.4	0.3	0.6	0.4	0.02	0.01	0.1	0.04

Total UK:

1997: 21.8 mecus (£15.0 million)

1998: 21.6 mecus (£14.9 million)

1999: 21.4 mecus (£14.7 million)

2000-06

UK Outside Objective 1 programme

	England		Lowland Scotland		Wales
	Meuro	£ million	Meuro	£ million	Meuro	£ million
2000	8.6	5.9	8.6	5.9	0.4	0.2
2001	8.8	6.0	8.8	6.0	0.4	0.2
2002	9.0	6.2	9.0	6.2	0.4	0.2
2003	9.2	6.3	9.2	6.3	0.4	0.2
2004	8.5	5.8	8.5	5.8	0.3	0.2
2005	8.6	5.9	8.6	5.9	0.4	0.2
2006	8.9	6.1	8.9	6.1	0.4	0.2

UK Objective 1 programmes

	Cornwall		Merseyside		Scotland Highlands and Islands		West Wales and the Valleys		Northern Ireland
	Meuro	£ million	Meuro	£ million	Meuro	£ million	Meuro	£ million	Meuro	£ million
2000	3.1	2.2	0.1	0.1	0.0	0.0	2.3	1.6	0.9	0.6
2001	2.5	1.8	0.0	0.0	8.3	5.7	2.3	1.6	1.9	1.3
2002	2.7	1.9	0.1	0.1	6.4	4.4	2.2	1.5	5.4	3.7
2003	2.5	1.8	0.0	0.0	4.6	3.1	2.2	1.5	5.5	3.8
2004	1 .9	1.3	0.1	0.1	3.7	2. 5	2.0	1.3	5.5	3.8
2005	2.2	1.5	0.0	0.0	2.9	2.0	2.1	1.5	5.4	3.7
2006	2.0	1.4	0.1	0.1	1.9	1.3	2.1	1.4	5.4	3.7

Total UK:

2000: 24.0 meuros (£16.6 million)

2001: 32.9 meuros (£22.7 million)

2002: 35.1 meuros (£24.2 million)

2003: 33.5 meuros (£23.1 million)

2004: 30.3 meuros (£20.9 million)

2005: 30.2 meuros (£20.8 million)

2006: 29.6 meuros (£20.4 million)

Fishing Catches

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects further proposals from the Commission Communication: A Policy to Reduce Unwanted By-catch and Eliminate Discards in European Fisheries (COM (2007) 136 final) to be discussed at a Fisheries Council meeting; and if he will make a statement. [173012]

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