Seòmar agus comataidhean

I would want to point out the benefit, as I see it, of having REM. As I have set out, it is about compliance and enforcement, as well as providing all the other information that we can look to glean from it. There are other benefits, too, as I have also set out. The information was volunteered from retailers themselves and from the MSC in response to our consultations. They have told us that directly.

The evidence and the information that we have gathered from that monitoring have been invaluable, and that has almost led us to where we are today. We actually started the roll-out of that monitoring in 2017, based on the calls of the fishing industry itself, which could see the benefits. The industry wanted to see REM mandated for the fleet because it saw the benefits of that as much as anyone else. It has been important that we have taken the learning from that, which has led to the development of the regulations that are in front of the committee today.

We consulted with the industry on the technical specifications and, of course, we shared a draft of those with the committee. Those specifications are, of course, very technical in nature and have been designed to support any future anticipated data requirements that we might have. Given that the technology continues to be developed, we might need to update those specifications in the future, depending on how things go.

We always intend to work with the industry as we update things because of its strong interest and the fact that, ultimately, it would need to implement the requirements. It is therefore in our best interests to ensure that we engage with the industry, and we did consult it on the technical specifications.

It is really helpful to have had our experience with the roll-out since 2017, because we can look at whether there are any particular issues or malfunctions and how often they happen. Like any system, REM needs to be maintained to ensure that it is operating effectively but, of course, malfunctions and technical faults do happen. However, from the roll-out so far, there have been few such incidents or cases. A particular issue was identified with the winch sensors because they are more exposed. There has been on-going work with engineers to find a solution to that, so we are implementing a resolution. In a minute, I will hand over to Ellen Huis, who can perhaps provide a bit more detail on that.

With regard to what we have set out in the regulations, we recognise that technical faults and malfunctions can happen, and we have tried to get the balance right and deal with that in a pragmatic way. We do not want to tie boats up, but we also have to make sure that the objectives of the SSI and what we are trying to achieve with it are met. We recognise the challenges, which is why we drafted the regulations in the way that we did.

I will hand over to Ellen Huis, who will provide a bit more information in relation to some of those particular issues.

We are not planning to issue any compensation. We have to make sure that we are taking a balanced and pragmatic approach, but we also have to make sure that we are not undermining the objectives of the legislation and what we need to achieve from REM. That is why we have set out in the regulations qualifications in relation to a first or second breakdown and other qualifications beyond that, as Ellen Huis has outlined. All of that is important because we need to ensure that we get the balance right. We cannot expect or allow fishing to continue if it undermines the objectives of the SSI.

What I was talking about, particularly in response to the previous question, was the data transition requirements. However, if there was a force majeure incident—if something catastrophic happened that was outwith the master’s control—we have exemption provisions to enable us to deal with that.

I disagree with that. We have set out how the technical specifications were developed. In my opening remarks, I mentioned the constant innovation that is happening in our fisheries, which is important to note. When things such as VMS and e-logs have been developed and introduced, ancillary services have also grown. REM has been rolled out on a voluntary basis since 2017 and it is developing and growing elsewhere in the world. As we and other nations look to introduce those measures, other skills and ancillary services will be built at the same time. In essence, we have been in the same position before with other technologies and, because of what has been rolled out so far, we do not anticipate that there will be too many difficulties with it. I think that we will continue to see growth in the sector in the future.

All of that is set out in the regulations. Regulation 17 deals with the automatic transmission of data. It sets out that the data should be automatically uploaded, the timescale in which that must be done and the length of time for which the data must be kept.

That comes back to a discussion that we had at the start of the meeting, about the other benefits that can come from REM. I outlined how it is important for compliance and enforcement, and I talked about the reputational benefits and what we have heard from retailers. There is also a lot of benefit to be gained from the data that we will gather.

We can also use the evidence for fisheries management. Sound fisheries management is underpinned by robust scientific evidence, and the more data that we have, the more confidence we can have in that information, which in turn means that we can be more confident in the management decisions that we make.

As I said in response to a previous question, as we see the regulations bed in and as we start to develop a wider picture, the benefits will develop, too.

It is important to highlight that ICES is also looking at incorporating REM data. That is at a very early stage, because REM is not widespread in most other countries. However, its use is only going to grow in the future.

We will utilise that data. As I outlined, it helps to underpin decisions that we might make. I have set out a number of times the ways in which that data can be beneficial to us, and its benefits are going to grow as the regulations bed in. We will glean a lot of helpful information from REM data. We can also use it to gather information for marine spatial planning.