On Wednesday 22nd May, the House of Lords EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee will take evidence from the bodies responsible for enforcing fisheries legislation in England and Scotland.

The Committee will ask the enforcement agencies what steps they are taking to ensure compliance with the landing obligation and what challenges they face. They are also likely to ask whether the agencies believe the new rules are being fully complied with, and whether they have sufficient resources to detect non-compliance.

The evidence session will begin at 10:30am in Committee room 2 of the House of Lords. The Committee will question:

• Tom Robertson, Marine Scotland
• Phil Haslam, Marine Management Organisation

Questions likely to be covered during the session include:

• How many cases of non-compliance have been detected since 1 January this year and what penalties have been awarded?
• What steps have been put in place to monitor compliance with the landing obligation?
• How much fish that is suitable for human consumption but over a fisher’s quota has been landed since January?
• Are there concerns about the extent of the exemptions to the landing obligation, particularly from a conservation point of view?