The Fisheries Act enshrines in law the Government’s commitment to sustainable fishing through its objectives and fisheries statements and through the new legal commitment to produce Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) to restore our fish stocks to sustainable levels. The Act contains a ‘bycatch objective’ seeking to reduce the wasteful practice of discarding fish; an ‘ecosystem objective’ to minimise and, where possible, eliminate negative impacts on marine ecosystems; and a new ‘climate change objective’ which recognises and seeks to reduce the impact of fishing on the health of our oceans and our planet.
The UK is a global leader in protecting the ocean and our marine life across the UK, and 374 Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) now protect 38% of UK waters. I am aware that these areas are all subject to planning and licensing regimes to ensure they are protected from damaging activities and further plans to manage fishing activity in them continue to be developed. The Government’s £500 million Blue Planet Fund will help some of the world’s poorest communities to protect the ocean from plastic pollution, overfishing and habitat loss. In August 2021, Ministers announced the first five programmes under the Blue Planet Fund totalling £16.2 million of funding.
The draft Joint Fisheries Statement (JFS) commits the UK Government and Devolved Administrations to work together to adopt an ‘ecosystem-based approach’ to fisheries that will underpin a vibrant, profitable fishing industry that is resilient to climate change. The JFS includes a list of proposed Fisheries Management Plans (FMPs) that will be published by the UK Administrations. FMPs are a cornerstone of the Gove