CCTV to watch over fish catches

Story link: CCTV to watch over fish catches by Alan Harten

Soon CCTV may help prevent the dumping of extra fish back into the ocean, due to a new effort by the Fishery Department to catch fisherman who exceed their EU fishing quota.

CCTV monitoring systems will be installed to watch over seven skippers next month in an effort to reduce the amount of fish that are caught and dumped back into the North Sea, an initiative that is costing £100,000.

Richard Lockhead, the Fisheries secretary, said that the issue of fishing became a more significant concern after the discards summit, where it was reported that over £40 million pounds of saleable fish is tossed back into the North Sea on average every year.

Lockhead continued to say that with the use of the CCTV technology they hope to change the way fisherman behave and help reduce the amount of discards that happen on a daily basis.

He said that they are looking forward to see the results of the monitoring efforts so that they can decide how to best combat the problem and hopefully see some responsible behaviour as a result.

Chairman of the Scottish White Fish Producers Association, Mike Park, said that reaction has been mixed to the monitoring news, with some skippers taking the CCTV installation as a threat while others feel it is a great way to show customers that the skippers and fish companies act responsibly.

The skipper of one of the boats to undergo the CCTV monitoring, John Buchan, said that he welcomes the CCTV cameras because the fishing industry has nothing to hide and hopefully it will help build confidence in the Scottish fishermen and their actions on the sea.