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The noble Lord said: My Lords, this amendment refers to consultation. While I admit that it probably seeks to go further than the Government would wish in making the general lighthouse authorities statutory consultees under the Bill, there is slight sensitivity on the part of those authorities as regards consultation. When this Bill was in preparation the Government had the usual consultations with those who might be affected. However, in the great hurry to put the Bill together one or two items were slipped in at the last moment which were not consulted upon and which have caused us all so much extra work. The Minister apologised for that omission and I have taken that apology in good faith. I am now merely seeking to see whether the Minister is prepared from the Dispatch Box to give some sort of assurance that in future, especially when we are dealing with any type of international agreement, the lighthouse authorities will be properly consulted before we go ahead. I beg to move.
Viscount Goschen: My Lords, I understand fully the sensitivities which the noble Lord, Lord Greenway, elucidated when speaking to his amendments, Amendments Nos. 52 and 53. It is the Government's policy to consult as widely as possible and in as much detail as possible. A great deal of what we have discussed during this Report stage has centred on consultation with the various authorities, bodies and individuals concerned. Consultation is a major plank of the way we approach legislation and when bringing forward proposals of almost any sort.
We published a draft consultation paper last February and took account of the responses to it in the draft Bill that we published last June. The replies to that consultation in turn influenced the form of the Bill which was introduced last autumn. I have acknowledged that consultation on the provisions in Schedule 2, relating to light dues, was not all that it should have been. I am happy to repeat that and to apologise again to the House for the lack of consultation on that specific issue. However, that was not due to any lack of willingness on our part to consult but more to a late change in our understanding of what the existing legislation allowed. I believe that that point and the Government's good intentions have now been accepted.
I am happy to assure the House that there will be continuing consultation with the GLAs as work towards an international agreement proceeds both on technical issues and on methods of collection--and, indeed, on any other issues with which the GLAs are properly involved and on which they need properly to be consulted. I entirely agree with the noble Lord, Lord
Lord Greenway: My Lords, I am most grateful to the Minister, first, for pointing out that there was no misintention in the Government not consulting on certain issues in the first place and, secondly, for his assurance that full consultation will be undertaken in any future deliberations. On that basis, I am happy to beg leave to withdraw the amendment.
Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.
Clause 29 [Short title, interpretation and commencement]:
Viscount Goschen moved Amendment No. 54:
The noble Viscount said: My Lords, this amendment was spoken to with Amendment No. 23. I beg to move.
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Viscount Goschen moved Amendment No. 55:
The noble Viscount said: My Lords, this amendment was spoken to with the group of amendments considered with Amendment No. 2. I beg to move.
On Question, amendment agreed to.
Baroness Wilcox: My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be now read a second time.
Britain's shellfish industry produces nearly 125,000 tonnes of various types of molluscs and crustaceans a year, worth about £145 million. Those valuable catches provide an essential living for British fishermen, growers, processors, traders and retailers around our country's coastline. However, there are now indications that some stocks are being over-exploited and the need for extra protection in the form of conservation and controls is becoming a priority.
This Bill will provide the legislative changes needed to extend the conservation benefits of the Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act 1967 to lobsters and other crustaceans.
The Act makes provision for the establishment, improvement and maintenance of fisheries for lobsters and other crustaceans. It will allow inshore fishermen in England, Scotland and Wales to benefit from lobster
The lobster is one of the UK's most valuable shellfish. Landings in 1995 had a first-sale value of £12 million and this crustacean, which is caught in baited pots, is eagerly sought after by British fishermen.
Not surprisingly, catch rates in nearly all of our traditional fishing areas have fallen and there is now an urgent need to increase stock levels. The UK lobster stocks are only protected by a single conservation measure--the minimum legal landing size, which is now set at 85mm carapace length (just under a one-pound lobster in weight).
Lobsters are slow growing and it takes five to six years for a female to reach maturity. Furthermore, while the mother lobster may carry up to 100,000 eggs depending on her size, only a very small proportion of this number survives in the wild.
A further increase in the legal landing size would protect more breeding females, but this move will result in a short-term loss in landings. To compensate, fishermen will set more lobster pots and stocks will become further depleted. Some control on fishing effort seems necessary and I believe that this could be done on a local rather than national basis.
Lobster stock enhancement could be a further way of replenishing local stocks and could involve inshore fishermen. MAFF scientists working since the late 1970s have developed a hatchery system for rearing lobsters under controlled conditions. Eggs from wild broodstock were grown to market-sized adults, but it was too costly to make "lobster farming" seem economically viable.
Encouraged by the Shellfish Association of Great Britain and the lobster industry, MAFF turned to the idea of ranching, which involves the release into the wild of hatchery-produced juveniles on suitable areas of seabed.
In 1983, a programme of lobster stock enhancement was started to assess the survival of hatchery-reared juvenile lobsters in the wild. More than 90,000 juveniles, each three to four months old, have now been released in trials by MAFF, the Sea Fish Industry Authority and the North Western and North Wales Sea Fisheries Committee. Each baby lobster was marked with a coded microwire inserted into a leg. This minute "tag" is not lost when the lobster moults to grow and it can be detected later with a magnetometer. This innovation has made it possible for the first time to make a proper scientific evaluation of the benefits of lobster stock enhancement using hatchery-reared animals.
Lobster catches at the ports adjacent to the release areas in England, Scotland and Wales, have been screened for the presence of these marked lobsters. Scientists at sea have checked fishermen's catches and field sampling with traps has also been done. The results are most encouraging. With survival rates estimated to be between 50 to 80 per cent., the trials have been
The UK now leads the way on lobster ranching because these results provide quantitative evidence that juvenile lobsters released into the wild on lobster habitat can survive to fishable size in substantial numbers, enter baited pots set by commercial lobstermen, and can contribute to commercial catches and the breeding stock. Lobster stocking therefore seems feasible biologically and requires to be tested economically and on a larger scale. However, to prevent future benefits of lobster stock enhancement being dissipated by increasing fishing effort it will be necessary to manage access and harvesting effectively and possibly in the long term to grant individual ownership rights.
The Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) (Amendment) Bill seeks to extend the original 1967 Act, which covers only molluscs, to give protection and enhancement to lobster stocks. Cockle, mussel and oyster fishermen in England and Wales have benefited for over 30 years by having several and regulated fisheries which they manage themselves or with the aid of sea fisheries committees. There are now in place 28 fishery orders in England and Wales and two several orders in Scotland. Individual fishermen have their rights protected. All applications for fishery orders are rigorously scrutinised by fisheries departments and Ministers have powers to limit the size and duration of the orders granted to applicants. A well established consultation procedure ensures that traditional fishermen are not disadvantaged by curtailing their rights to the public fishery. A recent consultation exercise by the Scottish Office showed that regulating orders were welcomed by many inshore fishermen who responded. They were seen as helping local fishing interests by the management of local stocks and preventing their over-exploitation.
The new Bill will enable suitable sites to be considered for lobster stock enhancement, possibly using artificial reefs to help create or extend existing resources for the public good. This Bill which is supported by the Shellfish Association of Great Britain is essential if we are to progress crustacean management and conservation schemes like lobster stock enhancement in the future. The Bill will help to extend the protection and conservation of inshore lobster stocks up to six miles from our coast. It will give greater opportunity in future years to boost traditional lobster fisheries by stock enhancement and give extra protection to breeding females by V-notching schemes--measures that fishery scientists predict will be necessary to conserve the UK's valuable lobster fisheries in years to come. The Cornwall sea fisheries committee, backed by the county council and local fishermen, already plans to build a lobster hatchery at Padstow using grants from the Millennium Fund and the EC. The plan is to rear 80,000 juveniles a year for release on selected over-fished lobster grounds around Cornwall. So that this effort is not dissipated, my Bill will help conserve and manage lobster release areas to benefit the local industry. Similar schemes are planned for Shetland and other parts of Scotland.
As well as managing the country's marine resources, we have a unique opportunity to expand shellfish farming, including stock enhancements, and boost coastal resources in years to come. Our fishing industry has suffered badly in recent years. The great deep-sea fleets have dwindled away. Modern technology let loose and our fish-hungry neighbours have combined to ravage our seas and upset the fragile balance of nature's marine life. Twenty years ago I watched from the bridge of my own ship two purse-seiners with a cod-end net scoop mackerel into a mile long trace so accurately guided by the then new electronic fish trackers. I realised then that wild fish from the sea would soon become a rare and expensive luxury on a restaurant menu. I knew then that part of the future harvest of the sea would lie in sea meadows, sea ranching, sea farming and harnessing science and technology to work for new growth. So it is proving. Allied to good husbandry, sound conservation methods and effective regulation and distribution herald the dawn of a new era for the industry to which I and generations of my family have turned for our livelihoods.
This Bill will provide the legislative changes that are needed to help British fishermen and farmers of lobsters and other crustacea to secure a new future. With the support of your Lordships, this could be good news indeed--new opportunities, jobs and horizons, locally-owned initiatives, the revitalisation of local communities and the conservation benefits of the Sea Fisheries (Shell Fish) Act extended to this most precious resource.
Moved, That the Bill be now read a second time.--(Baroness Wilcox.)
Lord Strathcona and Mount Royal: My Lords, looking at my noble friend, she makes a rather improbable crew member of a fishing boat. However, I am carried away by her enthusiasm and wish to support her. She has also produced a commendably (and almost uniquely) short Bill. I hope that it will be regarded as an example to all but particularly to the Government. My noble friend makes a formidable case and has made the purposes of her Bill exceedingly clear.
I speak as a council member of the Shellfish Association of Great Britain which expresses the strongest possible support for this Bill. My livery company, the Fishmongers Company, also strongly support the Bill. Indeed, financially and in other ways it has supported the programme of lobster stock enhancement for a number of years. As my noble friend has said, there is now evidence that this system works.
The inevitable corollary of the release of young lobsters into the sea is a degree of control of over who is to catch them. In any case, lobster stocks all round the country, certainly in my part of the world (off the west coast of Scotland), are now under great pressure, as the noble Lord, Lord Mackie, is well aware. If something can be done to rehabilitate the stocks and protect the livelihood of fishermen, that is good news.
An excellent example of what can be done is the Thames estuary cockle fishing industry. One crucial feature of the benefits that have been derived from its
Lord Mackie of Benshie: My Lords, I too should like to congratulate the noble Baroness on tabling this Bill. It is an example to us all. Others should have brought forward such a measure some time ago. She is an example of the excellence of the life peerage system. It brings to the House people with background knowledge, expertise and a history in the fishery business. I mean that in the best possible way. More than expertise, she brings a certain passion for the whole question of sea resources.
The excellence of the Bill is demonstrated by the fact that two small amendments make it possible. That is itself a great virtue.
I have been aware of this problem for many years, because 30 years ago I was the Member of Parliament for Caithness and Sutherland. We had a great deal of trouble then with a sort of warfare between the islands and the mainland. Seine netters from Shetland and Orkney used to come around the coast to John O'Groats. They would drop 300 creels around the coast, return a couple of days later, move off with their catch and leave the local boys bereft of their living.
I had a great supporter called Jock Mowland, who was a crofter fisherman at John O'Groats. He was a frank and outspoken man. I was explaining to him that there was a case for renting a section of the coast to local fishermen. He recoiled in horror and said with genuine passion, "The sea is free to all". That was because he believed that he was suffering under a landowner on the land, whereas at least the sea was free to all. He came round, and the fishermen have come round, to the view that modern technology is denuding the seas and that we must do something about it.
The excellent technical details produced by the noble Baroness and the brief that I have have been extremely useful. They show that a great deal can be done, and will have to be done around the coast, or we shall be wholly dependent for our fish on the large corporations employing people and the countryside will be denuded of people like my friend Jock Mowland, now long dead, but no doubt enjoying on the heavenly shores a plentitude of lobsters and a high price for them. We can preserve the independence of the communities that we all know that we must keep if we are not to degenerate into an industrial society.
I was interested in the figures supplied. I see that lobsters are worth about £9,000 a tonne, while crabs are worth only £1,000 a tonne. However, they are both worth preserving. The lobster in particular is worth preserving. The methods described must be adopted all around. It will take a great deal of work because it is
The Bill is excellent. I applaud the initiative of the noble Baroness, and I trust that the Minister will do all that he can to see that the Bill goes through quickly.
Lord Carter: My Lords, the House is grateful to the noble Baroness for introducing the Bill. It is clear that she wants to do for lobsters what Molly Malone did for cockles and mussels. She gave an excellent explanation of the Bill, so I can be brief. Of course we support it from these Benches. It is a sensible Bill. We are attracted by the arguments that she produced about conservation and employment.
I shall ask just a few questions about the Bill. As I understand it, the effect of the grant of a several order is to give exclusive access to a group of fishermen or individuals. That removes temporarily the public right to fish for the type of shellfish specified. If the effect of a regulating order is to allow the public the right to fish, which is then subject to control by the grantee of the order--it is a point I put to the noble Baroness outside the Chamber--is there any cost to the public? If the public are granted the right under the order to fish, which has been specified by the several order, is there any cost to the public?
There is a question which I hardly dare ask. Does the common fisheries policy have anything to do with this area of fishing? I should be interested to know whether it does. If it does, there may well be problems in the future, because we know that the CFP is in an awful mess. I shall be interested to know whether any aspects of the CFP bear any relationship to the Bill.
I am sure that the noble Baroness will agree with me that it is a pity that when the 1967 Act was first drafted there was not an extension by regulation so that the Minister could bring forward an affirmative order to change the Bill, instead of having to take up time with primary legislation, as she has had to do.
As I understand it now, with the new wording, the relevant section of the 1967 Act will read:
I have a final procedural point. We always have a problem when a Bill amends a previous Act. When one goes to the Library to look up the Sea Fisheries
Page 62, line 26, leave out ("or Schedule 11A").
Page 23, line 33, after ("11,") insert ("(Preparation of plans under International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation)").
Page 23, line 33, after ("Schedule 2") insert ("and paragraph 13A of Schedule 6").
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"Cockles, clams, lobsters and any other molluscs or crustaceans",
of a kind specified in regulations made by the appropriate Minister. Presumably, that means that in future any other crustacean which it is wished to include would be picked up by regulation. It is a pity that no regulation-making clause was included in the original Act.
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