Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 9
9
Rejected
Produce UK-wide action plan with SMART targets to significantly reduce marine mammal bycatch
Recommendation
Accidental bycatch in fishing gear is the biggest single threat to marine mammals and has been described as “one of the grossest abuses of wild animal sensibility in the modern world”. While the Bycatch Mitigation Initiative and Clean Catch programmes have made some progress on this issue, efforts to tackle bycatch need to be stepped up. This must be done in close consultation with scientists, NGOs 30 Protecting Marine Mammals in the UK and Abroad and the fishing industry, who must be supported to take part in appropriate trials, including via financial incentives where necessary. We recommend that Defra and the devolved administrations work together to produce a UK-wide action plan with SMART targets to significantly bring down bycatch numbers. These targets should be developed in consultation with scientists, NGOs and the fishing industry and include consideration of risk factors such as location, gear type and species. Action should begin in the high-risk fleets cited by our witnesses as soon as practicable, and at the very latest be in place by June 2024. (Paragraph 51) The UK on the International Stage
Government Response Summary
The government rejected the recommendation for a UK-wide action plan with SMART targets to reduce bycatch, stating that each fisheries policy authority is responsible for setting its own targets. They committed to developing an England-specific work plan in 2024 to detail actions for reducing bycatch, building on existing initiatives.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
In August 2022, the UK Government and Devolved Administrations published the UK- wide Marine Wildlife Bycatch Mitigation Initiative (BMI), which sets out high level ambitions for tackling bycatch, some of which are already in progress. Each fisheries policy authority is responsible for setting out how they will take action on bycatch, for example through implementation plans. It will be for each fisheries policy authority to set time- bound targets, where appropriate, within their area of competence and so we disagree with the recommendation to produce an action plan with UK-wide targets. To make further progress on implementation of the BMI, we will develop an England- specific work plan in 2024 detailing more specific actions on how we will reduce bycatch. We will also continue to progress existing action to address the objectives set out in the BMI. For example, trialling new technology to enhance bycatch monitoring and mitigation in high-risk fleets through Clean Catch UK (CCUK), the scope of which will expand through Clean Catch 2, which will commence in Autumn 2023. We will continue to fund innovation through the i360 consortium and Defra is also developing 6 frontrunner Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs), which we have recently consulted on. These consider bycatch mitigation and recommendations for actions at an FMP-level and provide the mechanism for stakeholders to feed into all operational aspects of a fishery. We are also committed to working internationally to share best practice and lessons learned on bycatch, including through the IWC, OSPAR, ASCOBANS, and RFMOs.