Cameras and sensors could help enforce fish discard ban - report claims

Installing cameras and tracking equipment on fishing boats is the best way to enforce the discard ban, according to a new report.

Research by the WWF found electronic surveillance via onboard cameras and sensors is the cheapest and most effective way to monitor fishing activities at sea.

The latest phase of the European Union (EU) landing obligation regulations on banning dumping fish at sea - affecting the white fish sector - came into force in January.

The ban aims to stop fish being thrown overboard by requiring boats to bring all fish caught from designated species to land, so they can be counted against fishing quotas.

The charity's Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) in Fisheries Management report compares using cameras and sensors to traditional monitoring methods such as aerial and boat surveillance, onboard observers and dockside checks.

WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said: The majority of the UK commercial fleet is in Scotland, so this report is especially relevant.

With Scottish parliamentary elections taking place in May, we're calling on parties to commit to a strategy for the implementation and monitoring of the discard ban in Scotland, ensuring all Scottish-caught fish are going to a plate and not to waste.''

Helen McLachlan, fisheries governance manager at WWF UK said: Member states have an obligation to demonstrate that they are effectively monitoring compliance with the landing obligation.

Cameras offer by far the most effective means of doing this 100% of the time for a fraction of the cost of traditional methods.''

The cameras, which would be used in conjunction with GPS and electronic sensors, record continuous video during fishing and around 10% would be examined and compared against the fishermen's logbooks.

WWF estimates installing the equipment and reviewing 10% of data could cost about £4,697 per vessel and all 10-metre plus EU fishing vessels could be monitored for 10% of the time they are at sea, for a cost of around 122 million euro (£95 million).

Bertie Armstrong, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, said: The discard ban applied to mixed fisheries is less than two months old and is being applied progressively, starting with a small number of species in order to properly develop how the regulation is actually applied.

There is active work going on across Europe and most especially in Scotland to progress this - for example to optimise selectivity in fishing gears.

This is where expenditure of money and effort is needed - not blanket CCTV aimed mainly at compliance.

The WWF report rather misses the point. Working in close co-operation with fisheries managers and scientists is the way to properly ensure compliance and it is disappointing that WWF's first thought is policing rather than collaborative development.''

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