Written question asked by Luke Pollard (Labour) on Tuesday, 10 March 2020, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 12 March 2020. It was answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury (Conservative) on Wednesday, 18 March 2020 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Fishing Catches: Software

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the findings were of the independent user research, which formed the basis of the beta assessment of the catch recording app for fishing vessels of under 10m in length, on the matter of fishermen being required to record their catch before it was landed.

Answer: The user research that was undertaken for the catch recording project involved extensive engagement covering many points, including the compliance risks, sustainability benefits, harbour landing processes, frequency of landings, tidal considerations and catch recording completion times. This insight was used to inform the digital solution of a simple mobile application that could be used to record catches prior to landing even when no internet signal is available.

Secondary information