Fishing Catches

(asked on 29th September 2020) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the fishing license condition issued to non-sector under 10 metre vessels affecting Cat A (91/99) and Cat A limited (94/99), effective from 27 September 2020 and altering the requirement to submit a catch record from before landing to on landing, what assessment has he made of the availability of mobile phone signal or access to W-Fi in all English fishing harbours and landing areas.


Answered by
Victoria Prentis Portrait
Victoria Prentis
Attorney General
This question was answered on 7th October 2020

Currently, more than 58,650 catch records have been submitted using the new catch recording service for under-10m vessels. To date 79% of vessel owners or skippers have signed up to use the app in England and the Isle of Man, and in Wales uptake is 82%.

On 27 September 2020 the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) altered the licensing requirement for under-10 metre commercial fishing skippers to submit a catch record before landing. The alteration is a result of feedback from the catching sector and is designed to support fishermen who have expressed concerns about estimating weights or weighing on board their vessel. The change will enable them to complete this part of their catch record submission on landing if they choose.

The condition says the record must be submitted before removal from point of landing to point of sale. It now allows fishermen to weigh their catch on board their vessel or on shore, ensure connectivity (or phone signal) to submit their record and get assistance from others if needed. Different ports provide different facilities, with some offering provision of scales while others do not. Fishermen are at liberty to purchase scales to assist them should they wish to do so to ensure accuracy.

In case of connectivity problems, the catch app has been designed to be used offline to ensure no fishermen are disadvantaged by landing into ports with poor internet connections. Fishermen can complete and authorise submission of their catch record even if there is no signal where they are. It is then cached on their device to be submitted automatically once the fisherman is in an area with better connectivity.

The alteration to the submission deadline was made in response to feedback from fishermen that was gathered through engagement during the development and user-testing of the app and website, the roll-out of the service and ongoing use of the app. MMO officers in coastal locations are engaging with fishermen on the issue to supplement guidance. It is an optional way of working for fishermen introduced in response to concerns from some about estimating weights or weighing on board their vessel. Fishermen are under no obligation to land their catch before submitting their record and can continue to submit the required data via the app or website before removing the fish from their vessels as they have been doing to date.

Reticulating Splines