Scottish Secretary for the Environment, Mairi McAllan has confirmed that under the National Marine Plan, the government will make it mandatory for all scallop dredgers and pelagic vessels to be fitted with remote electronic monitoring equipment (REM) technology.
The Minister says she believes, “REM provides opportunities to modernise the way in which accountability and confidence is provided in delivering responsible and sustainable fisheries management.”, Fishing Daily reported.
Asked by the Scottish National Party’s East Lothian MSP, Paul McLennan whether the next National Marine Plan will include detailed marine spatial plans for mobile and static fishing gears. Environment Secretary Mairi McAllan responded: “The purpose of the National Marine Plan is to set out the strategic policies for the sustainable development of our marine resources. In addition, Scotland’s Fisheries Management Strategy sets out our approach to managing sea fisheries in Scotland in partnership with our stakeholders through ‘co-management’ and in a way that balances environmental, social and economic interests.
“Our Fisheries Management Strategy commits to rolling out Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) to key parts of the fishing fleet, and prioritises making REM (including Global Positioning Systems, sensors and cameras) mandatory on scallop dredge vessels and pelagic vessels.”
Calls for cameras onboard all vessels fishing in UK waters
The Future Fisheries Alliance’s call for improved at-sea monitoring across vessels fishing in UK waters received a boost earlier in 2022 when Natural England recommended the immediate roll-out Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) to vessels that have the highest impact.
The Alliance, a collaboration between WWF UK, Marine Conservation Society and RSPB, argues that effective monitoring on vessels using REM with cameras is essential to eliminate bycatch as well as overfishing.
The coalition believes it should be a mandatory requirement to have REM with onboard camera coverage on all vessels fishing in UK waters to help tackle the nature and climate emergency.
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