Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on the implementation of the new catch recording app for fishing vessels under 10 metres in length; and how future revisions and updates to that app will be funded.

As the Catch Recording App is downloaded to a mobile device, implementation costs are considered to be negligible. The development and build costs associated with the app as of 31 October were £1.8 million. The European Maritime Fisheries Fund (EMFF) can be accessed to fund projects to support the ‘regulator’ and the ‘regulated’ to improve compliance with the Common Fisheries Policy Control Regulations. The app is substantively (90%, £1.6 million) funded by the EMFF, matched with Government funds (10%, £0.2 million). Any future revisions or updates to the app will also be funded from EMFF up to 31 December 2020, when this funding scheme ends.