As it goes through its second reading in the House of Commons the Fisheries Bill has lost another amendment that was a critical test of building a system of “world leading fisheries management”. First it was having sustainability as a prime objective of the Fisheries Bill that was dropped and now an amendment that would have required larger vessels fishing in UK waters to carry Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) systems with cameras has been removed.

Sam Stone, Head of Fisheries and Aquaculture at the Marine Conservation Society said “It is a huge blow to have requirements to use cameras to monitor fishing activities stripped from the Fisheries Bill today, in addition to previous changes which have watered down the sustainability objective. We are increasingly concerned that this government is not really interested in moving fisheries management away from the status quo.

“Cameras on boats would pave the way for a new generation of management that is sorely needed and would place information and science at its core. Without good quality data and scientific analysis, it is incredibly difficult to implement effective management measures to ensure the future health of the UK’s fisheries and subsequently, our seas at large.”

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