Fisheries: Remote Electronic (REM) Monitoring Call for Evidence

Overview

From January 2021, at the end of the transition period, the UK will, as an independent coastal State, control and manage the resources in our waters. With a new way paved for our country, our marine environment and our fishing industry, it is important to think about long-term ambitions.

As part of our commitment to delivering a world class fisheries management system Defra committed to look at increasing the use of Remote Electronic Monitoring in the recent Fisheries Bill debates and our White Paper. We want to do so openly and collaboratively. This call for evidence is the first stage of that process. From this we will work with interested parties and follow up with a formal consultation next year.

Remote Electronic Monitoring includes integrated on-board systems of cameras, gear sensors, video storage, and Global Positioning System units, which capture comprehensive videos of fishing activity with associated sensor and positional information.

Why your views matter

Defra is interested in how we can expand our use of Remote Electronic Monitoring to help us manage and monitor our fisheries and marine environment moving forward. However, we know there are a number of questions and challenges that we, industry and other interested parties must jointly work through before that expansion can happen.

What happens next

Detail of outcome

We have carefully considered all the submissions and will continue to use the evidence provided to inform further thinking on the use of remote electronic monitoring in England. We will engaging more with stakeholders in the near future around the topics that were highlighted in this Call for Evidence.

Detail of feedback

We received 37 responses, 31 were submitted online on the platform Citizen Space and 6 were submitted directly.

Summary of responses 

The summary of responses document can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/fisheries-remote-electronic-monitoring-call-for-evidence