The PECH Committee requested three research papers on the “Electronic technologies for fisheries”, which were presented during Workshop for the Committee on 11 November 2021.
During the event, three studies were presented by their respective authors.

Part I: Transmitted positional data systems

Key findings

The use of the current vessel monitoring system (VMS) for fisheries control and scientific advice for fisheries management is being replaced on some occasions by the automatic information system (AIS) due to data access problems and excessive time laps between transmissions.
Although AIS provides more information due to its higher frequency of emissions, it does not have the same reception coverage and the same legal coverage. The application of AIS is required for maritime safety reasons and not for fishing control.
Newly developed electronic technologies (ETs) for merging positional data with satellite images provide excellent data for both fisheries monitoring & control and fisheries research. However, these data are not always available due to the low number of daily images taken of a specific area or to the high price of such data fusion services.
During the event, the following presentation was given by Iñaki QUINCOCES of AZTI Marine Research Department, Spain:

Presentation – part I: Transmitted positional data systems:
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Part II: Electronic monitoring systems

Key findings

Since 1999, the use of camera-systems on board, commonly referred to as Electronic Monitoring (EM), has emerged as an innovative approach for documenting catches in fisheries.

The number of vessels involved in EM is steadily growing, and estimated at approximately 1 900 fishing vessels worldwide in 2019. Canada, the United States of America, Australia and Chile have successfully implemented EM in their national fisheries management administrations.

During the period 2008 – 2019, more than twenty EM trials were conducted in the EU. Despite promising results, none of the trials evolved into a fully integrated EM programme. Still, valuable lessons are learnt on EM implementation in European fisheries.

EM improves monitoring coverage without a considerable increase in the monitoring budgets.

Involvement of fishers is crucial for EM implementation. Fishers need to conform to the operational practices on board to facilitate the success of EM.

In the context of the EU Landing Obligation and the requirement to record discards, further work on development is still needed. Detecting smaller fish specimens in large volumes of catch is still challenging. 

During the event, the following presentation was given by Edwin VAN HELMOND of Wageningen Marine Research (WMR):

Presentation – part II: Electronic Monitoring Systems:
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Part III: Systems adapted for small-scale vessels fisheries

Key findings

Electronic Monitoring (EM) systems using closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and various sensors can also be used on vessels below 12 m.

EM sensor systems can record detailed information on all length classes fishing vessels.

The use of tablets and smartphones as a tool for recording fishing operations and as logbook and report tool can prevent data deficiencies.

The use of EM can improve possibilities for monitoring compliance with e.g., the landing obligation (LO).

Electronic technologies (ET) are cost-effective to monitor compliance in small-scale fisheries (SSF).

During the event, the following presentation was given by Jørgen DALSKOV & Gildas GLEMAREC, both of DTU Aqua Technical University of Denmark:

Presentation – part III: Systems adapted for small-scale vessels:
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The presentations were followed by questions from the Members and a stimulating debate.

Watch video of the event (with multilingual interpretation):

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