English sea anglers get a say

Extracted from a recent debate in Westminster where replacing the Sea Fisheries Committees with Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities was being discussed; certain key areas have been highlighted which it is felt will increase the confidence anglers can have that their voice will be heard.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Part 6 will replace the sea fisheries committees with new bodies in England called inshore fisheries and conservation authorities, which will have a duty to manage sea fisheries sustainably, balancing socio-economic benefits with protection of the marine environment.

They will have more money and strengthened powers, but will keep local involvement in decision making.

IFCAs will be very different organisations from the sea fisheries committees that they replace.

Significantly, IFCAs will have a new duty to protect the marine environment and to promote its recovery from the effects of sea fisheries exploitation.

Andrew George: The Minister has just touched on the question of membership.

He will be well aware that that is an issue of great sensitivity and potential controversy, because even within the fishing industry there is not a single view or single interest.

Therefore, the MMO will have to discharge its duties in regard to the selection of those representatives from the industry with a great deal of care to ensure that those conflicting interests are properly reflected.

He must acknowledge that that is going to be extremely difficult to achieve in many areas.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Many aspects of the Bill, including the composition of the IFCA committees, are predicated on the idea of bringing together people whose interests are sometimes compatible and sometimes conflicting.

That is always going to be challenging; I agree with the hon. Gentleman that it will be a challenge and that the MMO has to take great care to make sure that things are right.

The make-up of the IFCA committees and how they carry out their duties has a lot to do—I will come on to this in a moment—with local accountability and making sure that wide interests are represented, as well as the interests of local authorities.

Martin Salter: Another issue that has been raised by environmental groups and, again, by recreational sea anglers is the presence on IFCAs of local authority representatives who also have an interest in commercial sea fishing activity.

Where local authority reps or other representatives on IFCAs have other interests that may be pertinent, will they be declared?

We do not want to end up with an imbalance as a result of people wearing two hats.

Huw Irranca-Davies: My hon. Friend has made an important point.

Those who are appointed to, or find themselves on, an IFCA will have to subscribe to the overarching purposes and duties enshrined in the Bill.

Although they will represent the sector and interests that they come from, they will also have to comply with duties such as ensuring sustainable exploitation of fisheries and not jeopardising or compromising, for example, the remits of marine conservation zones in their area.

Future supplementary guidance will make it clear that interests that would normally be declared in debate are declared in such circumstances.

I confirm that in constructing that guidance now, we are clear that they will have to declare those interests.

Category: UK Government News