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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of English vessel fishing activity is currently monitored at sea either with (1) human observers, or (2) Remote Electronic Monitoring.

Each UK administration independently runs a scientific at-sea observer programme which typically covers around 1% of total fishing activity.

There is currently one English registered vessel with Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) taking part in a pilot trial for testing traceability; three vessels with REM equipment taking part in a scientific programme to collect catch composition data; and four vessels using REM for data collection focused on elasmobranch species which includes sharks, rays and skates.

Human observations take place as part of the fisheries data collection framework.