Lord West of Spithead – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord West of Spithead on 2015-02-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord De Mauley on 10 February (HL4601), whether the three offshore patrol vessels referred to as fulfilling the Royal Naval commitment to fishery protection included the Offshore Patrol Vessel presently deployed to the West Indies for five months.

Lord De Mauley

There is a formal agreement between the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and the Royal Navy that provides for the Royal Navy to supply surveillance and fisheries inspection services to the MMO. The agreement contains a commitment from the Royal Navy to provide 500 days of service annually to the MMO. It has three offshore patrol vessels based in UK waters: HMS Severn, HMS Tyne and HMS Mersey. The MMO do not specify how many or which vessels will be used at any one time to fulfil this role.

HMS Severn was available to contribute to delivery of that commitment between 1 April and 19 November 2014 after which it was tasked with other high priority duties. On projected figures it is anticipated that the Royal Navy will meet its commitments to the MMO for the financial year through the combined use of HMS Tyne, HMS Severn and HMS Mersey.