Select committee: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 9
Sixth Report - Protecting Marine Mammals in the UK and Abroad
Published 28 Jun 2023
Paragraph 51
Addressed to Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Marine Mammals All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
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.
From: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Sixth Report - Protecting Marine Mammals in the UK and Abroad (HC 697), paragraph 51, 28 June 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 31 October 2023 (deadline 28 August 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government agrees with the Committee on the importance of the precautionary principle and the role of marine mammals, but disagrees with some recommendations, including a UK-wide bycatch action plan with targets and a free trade agreement commitment on marine mammal conservation.
- On bycatch, it disagrees with producing an action plan with UK-wide targets, as each fisheries policy authority will set time-bound targets "where appropriate". It will develop an England-specific work plan in 2024.
- On monitoring, it points to existing investment, including Defra's £40m mNCEA programme, and does not consider it "necessary to establish a further fund". It is considering responses to its remote electronic monitoring consultation and will respond "in due course".
- On the Dolphin and Porpoise Conservation Strategy, it acknowledges the recommendation but says "sufficient time is required", and it "hope[s] to publish in 2024". It does not expect to introduce bespoke primary legislation on marine mammals.
- On protected areas, it welcomes the suggestion but does not agree to the proposed timeline, aiming to implement management measures, "where necessary", by the end of 2024. It disagrees with a specific marine mammal conservation commitment in free trade agreements.