The European Union (EU) has agreed to introduce stricter monitoring measures on fishing boats to prevent overfishing. The new rules would require all fishing vessels to be fitted with electronic recording systems, with larger boats or those fishing vulnerable stocks also required to have onboard cameras and sensors. The measures would also set an EU minimum level of fines for those caught violating fishing regulations, calculated according to the value of their illegal catch. The tolerance for discrepancies between logged and actual catches would be 10%, rising in certain cases, while recreational fishers would need to register and report their catch electronically. The revised rules also call for a new digital system to record catches and help detect illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Non-EU countries importing fisheries products into the bloc would need certification through that system. The measures were hailed by environmentalists as a “landmark moment” against illegal fishing.
