Catalyzing the Growth of Electronic Monitoring in Fisheries 13 Building Greater Transparency and Accountability at Sea
update includes requirements for EM on a percentage of the fleet based on risk to enforce the Landings Obligation.11 The proposal still needs to work through the legislative process, but this is a noteworthy step toward improved accountability in EU fisheries. Absent the inclusion of EM in the final regulation, there may be other opportunities to push EM forward in Specific Control and Inspection Programmes (SCIPS). Trials of EM in the EU are listed below.12
• 2011 Denmark Harbor Porpoise Bycatch Program (9 vessels)
• 2 013-2015 Denmark North Sea, Skagerrak, and Baltic Program (14 vessels)
• 2010 Denmark North Sea and Skagerrak Program (23 vessels)
• 2008-2009 Denmark North Sea Program (6 vessels)
• 2 015 Southwest England/North Sea Multispecies Program (3 vessels)
• 2015 Southwest England Program (9 vessels)
• 2014 England North Sea Cod (12 vessels)
• 2010-2014 England North Sea Program (6 to 21 vessels)
• 2010 Scotland Cod Program (6 to 27 vessels)
• 2011-2015 Netherlands Cod Program (12 vessels)
• 2011-2014 Germany Baltic Sea Cod Program (2 vessels)
AUSTRALIA – Australia’s first EM trials began in 2005 with a single boat fishing in the Southern Ocean. In 2015, EM was adopted for the gillnet hook and trap fishery and the tuna and billfish fisheries. The program now covers 75 vessels and is expected to expand to eventually cover most, if not all, of the Commonwealth fisheries in the next 5 to 10 years. NEW ZEALAND – In 2017, New Zealand passed a regulation requiring EM for all commercial fishing vessels. The initial rollout was slated to begin in October 2018, but the new government has slowed the process. Overall, there are about 20 vessels with EM systems currently installed and a little over 1 thousand additional licensed vessels that could be required to have EM in the coming years,13 but the timeline and extent of the rollout is still evolving. WESTERN AND CENTRAL PACIFIC OCEAN – There has been a flurry of activity trialing EM in the region over the last few years, primarily on longline vessels. Overall, the longline tuna fishery has a target of 5 percent observer coverage. However, due in part to the difficult working environments on the boats and limited observer supply, the actual coverage has been less than 2 percent. EM offers the potential to increase the coverage of the fleet, and by the end of 2018 there will be approximately 100 vessels with EM systems installed. This number is expected to grow, and there is momentum for EM to be adopted as part of the licensing requirements in several island nations. CANADA – Canada is where the first EM programs were piloted and implemented, but there have been no new EM programs beyond the British Columbia hook-and-line and crab fisheries, which were implemented more than a decade ago. A new EM program, however, is now being considered for the New Brunswick snow crab fishery. The fishery is facing serious restrictions after multiple right whale entanglements with traps, and EM is being explored as a means to better track trap locations and more selectively remove traps that are in highrisk areas for right whale interactions. CHILE – Chile recently made a commitment to install EM systems on its fishing fleets. The country is expected to start with its industrial fleet in the latter half of 2018, and the government is said to have initiated inquiries with all of the major EM providers. Detailed plans for the rollout, however, are not clear at this time. INDUSTRIALIZING AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES – EM systems have been trialed in several small-scale fisheries, including trials of low-cost EM systems in Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, and throughout other parts of Latin America (e.g., by FlyWire and Shellcatch). There is significant demand for improved data collection in small-scale fishing fleets worldwide.
