Enforcement of the controversial under-10m electronic Catch App for English boats will start in full on Monday, 28 February, the MMO has confirmed, reports Tim Oliver.

The MMO said it has supported a period of adjustment to allow fishers to get used to catching recording without facing action for breaching the licence condition. This had resulted in 88% of the 2,110 English- registered vessels signing up to use the Catch App.

It said it will continue to give support, and fishermen not using the app will be given opportunities to comply before ‘more serious action is taken (see below).

But many in the English under-10m sector continue to oppose the app. They say it is still not ‘fit for purpose’ and they should not be put in a position of facing criminal charges for failing to use technology that is inadequate.

Jerry Percy, director of NUTFA, said there was still confusion about exactly how the app should be used. The MMO failed to recognise some of the challenges fishermen had with the system. There was a failure of communication, and the MMO should repeat and clarify its guidance.

He also contrasted the demands made on small-boat English fishermen to give full details of their entire catches electronically with the total lack of reporting and monitoring of large foreign fly-shooters fishing non-quota species in the Channel, and other large foreign vessels fishing in UK waters.

“They tell us the percentages of fishermen who have signed up to the app, but they fail to recognise there is a serious percentage of fishermen who for a range of reasons are either particularly averse to the app, or are not capable or don’t have the equipment to be able to weigh and report their catches on the boats in the harbour before they leave the boat,” he told Fishing News.

“They go home to do it and probably get their family to give them a hand, but it’s still going to be very difficult for a number of fishermen.

“We’re talking about mooring in harbours, but what happens if you’re a beach boat? At what point do you have to do it then?”

He said he and his NUTFA colleague Sarah Ready, who has followed all the detail of the app and were in regular contact with the MMO, were still confused about its use.

“If people like me and Sarah aren’t clear about when and how and what, there must be a lot of fishermen out there in the same boat. They [the MMO] really need to reiterate what’s required,” he said.

“I’m confused as to whether you can do it at sea – the MAIB says it’s not safe – or whether you can do it in the harbour, on your moorings, on the beach – if you’re a beach boat, can you do it when you get to your truck?”

He said a study carried out in Cornwall to assess how accurately fishermen could estimate the weight of their catches showed they were wrong by between 17% and 22%, while the margin of tolerance accepted by the authorities is only 10%.

“It’s very difficult to judge the weight of a box of fish when fish have been gutted and iced,” said Jerry Percy.

He said with the combination of the Catch App and the confusing introduction of inshore vessel monitoring (IVMS), it was not surprising that inshore fishermen ‘don’t know whether they’re coming or going