WFF has launched a new report highlighting the benefits of electronic monitoring using a combination of onboard cameras and sensors.
The report links in with a European Commission seminar discussing the implementation of the fish discards ban, Landing Obligation.
By requiring boats to bring all fish caught from certain species to land, so they can be documented and counted, the ban was created to bring an end to the wasteful practice of discarding.
“Member States have an obligation to demonstrate that they are effectively monitoring compliance with the landing obligation,” says Helen McLachlan, fisheries governance manager at WWF-UK.
She added: “It is difficult to see how they can do this without having good knowledge of what is happening at sea. Cameras offer by far the most effective means of doing this 100% of the time for a fraction of the cost of traditional methods.”
With the ban representing a big change for operation shifts in European fishing, effective monitoring is vital for it to work.
The report, Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) in Fisheries Management, compares REM to traditional monitoring methods, such as aerial and boat surveillance, onboard observers, and dockside checks.
It argues that REM could offer a far more efficient and cost effective way of monitoring fishing activity and improving information on fish stocks. It also identifies where this technology has been trialled and how it is being used successfully elsewhere in the world.
Focusing on the key benefits of REM systems, the report vouches that it has 100% coverage of fishing activity can be recorded with varying levels of footage monitored according to the level of risk associated with the fishery.
As well as this REM is said to a continuous monitoring presence, in comparison to traditional methods, which are only effective during the presence of the monitoring vessel, onboard observer or aircraft. Data can also be used for multiple purposes including contributing to and improving confidence in, stock assessment, or to demonstrate best practice
The report shows that all 10m plus EU fishing vessels could be monitored for 10% of the time they are at sea, for a cost of around €122m.
Following the announcement of a new €6.4bn fund of money available across Europe to help implement the new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), this money could easily be made available to fishermen and administrations across the EU.
