Hot off the press! - Catch Quota Trials 2012 - Interim Report (November 2012)

 

This interim report provides a summary of the progress of the 2012 trials, to the end of September, of catch quota management using remote monitoring and CCTV.

A total of 22 English-administered vessels are fitted with remote monitoring equipment and CCTV and are engaged in trials for a range of stocks as well as non-catch quota-related trials. The results, to date, are demonstrating that discards have been virtually eliminated for the species under trial.

So reads the first few lines of the MMOs 2012 interim report on video surveillance, sorry, monitoring of fishing vessels in the North Sea and South Western Approaches. You do have to wonder at the lengths to which fishermen have to go in order to prove they are making a legal living these days. Trying to turn things round and look at this latest ruse to monitor fishing effort in a more positive light - the video recordings may also be useful in demonstrating just how MUCH fish of so called endangered species are being caught in abundance at times!