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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure the effectiveness of the fishing catch recording service.

Fisheries is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. Defra works closely with the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) who manage the fishing catch recording service widely known as the ‘Catch App’. The Catch App is used to gather catch information for under 10m fishing vessels which make up approximately 80% of the English fleet.

At present, Catch App compliance by fishermen is at its highest level since its introduction and now sits at 89% across England. Building on this high level of compliance, the Government is now working on three key steps to ensure the effectiveness of the Catch App. These are “review, engage and enforce”.

Firstly, the MMO reviews the implementation of the Catch App through direct feedback from fishermen and via Marine Officers who engage in dockside visits with fishermen. The MMO uses these inputs to inform on any improvements required to the app functionality in order to increase the benefit to fishermen.

Secondly, the MMO engages with fishermen to familiarise themselves with the way the Catch App works, increase their ability to enter accurate data, comply with the requirements and use the functionality of the app for their own benefit.

Thirdly, in 2022 after over two years of review and engagement, the MMO has moved to a phase of enforcing the licence condition requiring fishermen to use the Catch App to ensure that fishermen submit records for each trip.

The Catch App ensures the MMO has a more comprehensive picture of catches from English waters than ever before. This data informs fisheries management, improves traceability, and helps inform decisions on marine developments where previously the inshore fleet did not have data to support their views.