What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the risk to seabirds and cetaceans from accidental capture in fishing gear used in Welsh waters, including by non-UK registered vessels?
The Welsh Government is working with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) on the Assessing Welsh Fishing Activities (AWFA) project to evaluate the impacts of fishing activities on features of Marine Protected Areas in Wales. NRW will continue to conduct a number of assessments of interactions between fishing gears and features, including mobile species such as seabirds and cetaceans.
Additionally, Wales is supporting the UK approach to combine the cetacean and seabird bycatch plans into one UK Bycatch Mitigation Initiative (BMI). The BMI will describe and implement practical and effective methods to improve monitoring and mitigation of sensitive species in UK waters. This will also align with the Ecosystem Objective under the Fisheries Act 2020 which includes for incidental catches of sensitive species to be minimised and, where possible, eliminated. Policies for achieving, or contributing to the achievement of, the Fisheries Objectives will be set out in a Joint Fisheries Statement, which is currently being developed by all four Administrations.