7. Will the Cabinet Secretary make a statement on the security of the Welsh fishing industry post-Brexit? OAQ(5)0160(ERA)

Exiting the EU raises many questions and uncertainties for the future of Wales’s fishing industry. Management of fisheries is devolved, and any post-exit arrangements must respect devolution. We are working closely with industry, communities and other partners across Wales to create dynamic forward-looking Welsh fisheries policies.

I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that reply. Most people, I think, believe that the common fisheries policy has been a total economic, environmental and social disaster, and has caused catastrophic damage to our marine ecology. [Interruption.] Only somebody who doesn’t have a coastline to his constituency could be as ignorant as the Member for Blaenau Gwent in this respect. We’ve also seen the plundering by industrial fleets of our UK waters and the devastation of the British fishing industry, including that of Wales. Is it not vitally important that we recover the right to control fishing within the 6 to 12-mile limit, which is subject to the 1964 London convention on fishing? It will be necessary to leave that convention in order to do so. Will the Cabinet Secretary assure Welsh fishermen that the Welsh Government will support that measure?

You’ll be aware of our recently published White Paper, ‘Securing Wales’ Future’, I’m sure. That makes very clear that we need a fairer rebalancing of UK fishing quotas. Welsh vessels only hold about 1 per cent of the quotas in the Welsh areas of interest, and that simply is not good enough. We do expect the amount of fish available to Welsh vessels to increase.

The Secretary of State was very clear that he expected UK fishermen to have an increased share of the fishing opportunities in UK waters and I will ensure that Welsh fishermen receive their fair share. I work very closely with the fishing industry and we have made it very clear that we will continue to support them, because I think there are going to be many challenges ahead over the next couple of years, and there’s going to be some significant change. You’ll also be aware that, in the Queen’s Speech, it was suddenly announced there was going to be an agricultural Bill and a fisheries Bill. We had no knowledge of that. But, again, when I spoke to Michael Gove following the Queen’s Speech last Wednesday, I made it very clear that devolution must be respected and that joint decision making on UK-level issues is absolutely essential.

Cabinet Secretary, in your written statement regarding your meeting at the recent EU fisheries council to discuss European fishing opportunities for 2017, you referred to securing a modest increase to allow catches of 250 kg per month for netters in relation to commercial sea bass fishing. Can you provide an assessment of the impact this action has had in the first part of this year, and can you tell us what your intention is on this matter moving forward, given that stock remains in a recovering state?

I was going to say I don’t think it was that recent, it was probably about December. I will have to write to the Member regarding the progress that we’ve made over the first part of this year.

I’ve seen the worst of European fisheries negotiations, as the Cabinet Secretary has, but I have to say it’s complete codswallop—if that’s not the worst pun in the world—to say that it has not been a success. Because back in the mid 1970s the peak of cod in the North sea was landed at 270,000 tonnes. By 2006, it was 44,000 tonnes due to overcapacity and overfishing for a diminishing stock. It is now, by the way, back to 165,000 tonnes and the Marine Conservation Society is now looking to actually brand it as fit for sale on UK shelves. So, when they get it right, they get it right.

But could I ask the Cabinet Secretary, first, that there will be no withdrawal from actually sustainable fisheries, whether it’s in Welsh waters or in partnership with the UK, but secondly, how feasible is it, in the discussions with the DEFRA Secretary of State, that repatriation of quota to UK fishermen and skippers will happen? Because there are certainly UK fishermen who fish in other EU waters—roughly a proportion of one in four. Are we going to say that we’re taking their quotas away in order to get rid of people out of our waters? What happens to Scottish fishermen who have quotas and licensing in England’s waters? Are we going to push the south-west’s fishermen out of Welsh waters? These are difficult questions, and for anybody to pretend that this is as simple as ‘Give us our fish back’ is a joke.

I can absolutely assure the Member, regarding sustainable fishing, that that is absolutely at the top of the agenda. I haven’t had those discussions yet with the Secretary of State. You’ll be aware he’s only been in post a couple of weeks and I just had a very brief conversation. He did make it clear that he’s coming to the Royal Welsh Show. So, those are discussions that I’m sure can take place that day also. I have to say that fisheries is one of the most complex areas—the Member will know—within my portfolio. But I have to say, on the negotiations that we have, as the UK Government and the three devolved administrations, it was very good to see the work and it’s led me to believe that those UK frameworks that we are perhaps seeking to have, as we negotiate coming out of the EU—that those negotiations can work. I think we do have a framework that works very successfully and that we can follow.