Skip to main content
Banner image for Matthew Offord

Matthew Offord

Member of Parliament for Hendon Constituency
Site logo

Main navigation

  • Home
  • About Matthew
  • Campaigns
  • News
  • Articles
  • In Parliament
  • National Issues
  • My Plan
  • Contact
  • Ukraine

Sustainable Fishing - August 2020

  • Tweet

As a keen environmentalist and scuba diver, I am fully aware of the impact that super trawlers have on marine life. Our waters are a precious natural resource and they must be managed carefully. The future of the communities that earn their livelihoods from the sea and the biodiversity of the ocean depends on a balanced and considered approach to fisheries management.

The UK has 357 Marine Protected Areas covering a quarter of the country’s waters but the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy currently restricts our ability to impose more stringent protections on our seas. After the end of the end of the transition period, however, the UK will be able to introduce stronger measures so that we can manage our waters as we see fit.

The Fisheries Bill currently going through Parliament will help to protect our marine resources and develop plans to restore our fish stock back to more sustainable levels. This builds on a manifesto commitment which promised to introduce a legal commitment to fish sustainably as we become an independent coastal state once again.

I understand that the access of super trawlers to UK waters is of significant concern to local fishing communities and to those working to protect our seas. That is why I am glad that the Fisheries Bill will provide the Government with powers to licence foreign vessels in UK waters. Foreign vessels will have no automatic right of access to our waters in the future. Any vessel granted access to our waters will also be required to abide by UK rules, including on sustainability, and I fully support this approach. We will once again be in control of how we protect our waters.

National Issues

  • Universal Credit (£20 uplift) - September 2021
  • Electoral Commission - July 2021
  • Joint replacement surgery backlog - July 2021
  • Intellectual Property changes - June 2021
  • Ethiopia - June 2021
  • Legacy Benefits - June 2021
  • Caged gamebirds - May 2021
  • Violence in Israel and OPTs
  • Climate Change
  • Supporting Cinema - March 2021
  • Visas for touring creatives in the EU - January 2021
  • NHS Pay - November 2020
  • Fire Safety Bill - September 2020
  • Animal Welfare - September 2020
  • Pesticide Standards - September 2020
  • Support for Asylum Seekers - September 2020
  • Cladding and EWS1 form - August 2020
  • Transport for under-18s - August 2020
  • Sustainable Fishing - August 2020
  • Coronavirus (COVID-19)
  • Human Rights in Bahrain - July 2020
  • Immigration detention - July 2020
  • Merging the FCO and DFID
  • NHS Pay Increase - June 2020
  • Food Standards - June 2020
  • UK-US Free Trade Agreement - June 2020
  • Race horse welfare - March 2020
  • Windrush 'Lessons Learned' report - February 2020
  • Ocean Conservation - February 2020
  • Dementia care - January 2020
  • Horse tethering - January 2020
  • Abortion in Northern Ireland - (Updated) July 2019
  • Fit for Work Notes - April 2019
  • NHS - (Updated) March 2019
  • Immigration Bill - March 2019
  • Religious Persecution of Christians - February 2019
  • Brexit
  • Archive (2016-2018)

Matthew Offord Member of Parliament for Hendon Constituency

Footer

  • About RSS
  • Accessibility
  • Cookies
  • Privacy
  • About Matthew
ConservativesPromoted by Hilary Smith on behalf of Matthew Offord, both at 120 Bunns Lane, Mill Hill, London, NW7 2AS.

This website is privately funded and not paid for by tax payers.

Copyright 2022 Matthew Offord Member of Parliament for Hendon Constituency. All rights reserved.
Powered by Bluetree