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Fisheries
Fisheries - 16 January 2003
Mr. David Curry (Skipton and Ripon): On the absence of political
will, does the Minister recall that a decade ago the House voted to introduce
effort control in the form of days at sea? That was never implemented
and, like practically every other conservation measure, it was fiercely
opposed by the industry. Does the Minister think that, in retrospect,
had it been applied, we would be in quite the mess that we are in now,
including over days at sea?
Mr. Morley: I thought the right hon. Gentleman might mention that,
and he has every right to do so. There are different forms of effort management.
I recall the debate on the proposals to introduce effort control. There
were problems with that. The right hon. Gentleman will recognise that
there were great difficulties in terms of bureaucracy, ascertaining people's
right to days, and the appeal procedures. It was a difficult and complicated
structure, and there were some valid criticisms from the industry, which
I acknowledge.
There is no perfect system of fisheries management. If there were, it
would have been introduced long ago. We must therefore examine the range
of management tools available and try to adapt them in the most effective
way. I have always had an open-minded approach to these matters, including
effort control. I listen to what the industry says. I tried to persuade
the Commissioner to take a different approach and consider a recovery
programme that did not involve effort control of that kind. With reference
to Ross Finnie's remarks, I agree that the measure is crude. Of course,
it is an interim measure, and I shall discuss the details in a moment.
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