We recognise that accidental bycatch in fisheries is one of the greatest threats faced by sensitive marine species such as dolphins and seabirds, and we remain fully committed to tackling this issue. The Fisheries Act 2020 and Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS) have an \u201cecosystem objective\u201d which includes an objective to minimise and, where possible, eliminate incidental catches of sensitive marine species.<\/p>
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The JFS is out to consultation until 12 April 2022. After the consultation, we will summarise the responses and place this summary on the UK Government and all devolved administrations\u2019 websites.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4401", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Victoria Prentis"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Banbury"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Victoria Prentis"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-03-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-03-25T11:40:59.317Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "13"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-03-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Fishing Catches"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that the Joint Fisheries Statement expected in November 2022 contains a commitment to establishing specific, time-bound and measurable objectives to minimise and where possible eliminate bycatch of sensitive species.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4424", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for John McNally"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Falkirk"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "John McNally"} ], "uin" : "142010"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1452167", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1452167/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
We recognise that accidental bycatch in fisheries is one of the greatest threats faced by sensitive marine species such as dolphins and seabirds, and we remain fully committed to tackling this issue. The Fisheries Act 2020 and Joint Fisheries Statement have an \u201cecosystem objective\u201d which includes an objective to minimise and, where possible, eliminate incidental catches of sensitive marine species.<\/p>
<\/p>
Since 2020, Defra has funded Clean Catch UK, a research programme which is developing and trialling a range of bycatch monitoring and mitigation measures in Cornwall (a known high-risk area for sensitive species bycatch). This programme has developed a bycatch self-reporting mobile application validated by observers and electronic monitoring and an online \u2018Bycatch Mitigation Hub\u2019 with information on different approaches to reduce bycatch. In addition, we are working with the fishing industry to trial various innovative technologies to reduce cetacean bycatch.<\/p>
<\/p>
The UK Government funds a comprehensive and well-respected bycatch monitoring programme which provides essential observer data on incidents of sensitive species bycatch. The programme focusses primarily on gear types with a high expected or known risk of sensitive species bycatch. A new contract for the bycatch monitoring programme is expected to begin in April 2022.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4401", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Victoria Prentis"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Banbury"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Victoria Prentis"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2022-03-25", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2022-03-25T11:44:04.93Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "13"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2022-03-17", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Fishing Catches"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will take steps to (a) mitigate against and (b) effectively monitor bycatch in high-risk fisheries.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4424", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for John McNally"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Falkirk"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "John McNally"} ], "uin" : "142011"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 2, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }