Make Up of Sea Fisheries Committees

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

(1) pursuant to the answer of 24 January 2008, Official Report, columns 2124-5W, on fisheries: public appointments, if he will provide the information requested in relation to the current members of the sea fisheries committees; and if he will make a statement;

(2) what the names are of all (a) current and (b) previous members of each sea fisheries committee; and if he will make a statement.

Jonathan R Shaw (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Marine, Landscape and Rural Affairs) and Minister for the South East), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) | Hansard source

Section 2 of the Sea Fisheries Regulation Act 1966 sets out that persons appointed by the Minister to Sea Fisheries Committees (SFCs) shall be:

'....persons acquainted with the needs and opinions of the fishing interests of that district or as being persons having knowledge of, or expertise in, marine environmental matters'.

Once appointed, members are required to represent, in a balanced way, all local fishing and marine environmental interests in the SFC district. Appointees should not regard themselves as representing any one particular interest or organisation.

As of 30 January 2008, the names and known interests (as recorded at the time of their first appointment) of all current DEFRA ministerial appointees to each Sea Fisheries Committee are as follows:

Welsh Ministers are responsible for the remaining appointments to North Western and North Wales SFC, and are solely responsible for appointments to South Wales SFC.

The information requested in relation to all previous members is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

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Note1: There are some obvious inconsistencies with the answer supplied earlier - see http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2008-01-15a.177667.h 

Note2: As well as the DEFRA appointees listed above, there are other statutory members of each of the Sea Fisheries Committee, including councillors from ajoining County Councillors, who will often have an interest in the management of Inshore Sea Fisheries.  For more details of each committee, see the links given at http://www.asfc.org.uk/