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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the evidential basis for the Marine Management Organisation's proposal to introduce a catch recording app.

Scientific surveys conducted by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science have highlighted that data derived from sales notes and other historic documentation does not accurately reflect the volumes of fish being landed and sold by the under-10m fleet as a whole. These are consistent with the findings of European Commission audits carried out in 2011-12.

The requirement for the digital solution for catch recording, including an app, formed part of the beta assessment conducted by the Government Digital Service. As outlined in the published assessment report, the service passed the beta assessment stage.