The U.K. government will require pelagic trawlers fishing in the nation’s territorial waters to carry cameras, sensors, and GPS transmitters as part of a remote electronic monitoring (REM) program starting in 2028.
“This is a major step forward for protecting our seas, and the fact that most of the fleet is already on board speaks volumes,” U.K. Minister for Food, Fisheries, and Farming Stephen Morgan said in a release. “For the first time, we will be able to fully monitor fishing activity at sea, ensuring a level playing field for everyone in the industry and helping scientists get the evidence they need to support our fish stocks and marine wildlife.”
The forthcoming regulation will apply to large pelagic trawlers of any flag fishing in U.K. waters and English-flagged large pelagic trawlers operating anywhere in the world. According to the U.K. government, most pelagic trawlers already carry most of the equipment required under the regulation, which “will bring the rest of the large pelagic trawl fleet in line, ensuring a level playing field for vessels doing the right thing.”
The new regulation is set to go into force in November 2028.
According to the U.K. Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra), the government worked with volunteer pelagic trawling vessels to test out the REM program and inform how the policy was shaped. The Center for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) – an executive agency of Defra – conducted years of research and evidence-gathering to support implementation of the regulation, running an early adopter program to showcase how the technology can support sustainable fisheries management.
“Our research has helped us understand what it takes to make REM work well in practice – from collecting reliable information at sea to turning that data into scientific evidence,” Cefas Head of Applied Fisheries Research Thomas Catchpole said in a release. “This provides a stronger basis for deciding how REM can support fisheries management.”
Among those participating in the 18-month early adopter program was the North Atlantic Fishing Company (NAFC).
“Responsible and sustainable fishing operations are at the core of NAFC business, and the opportunity to participate in the REM trial has given us the opportunity to prove that we walk the walk as well as talk the talk,” NAFC Managing Director Phil Haslam said after the early adopter program wrapped up. “We are confident in our fishing practices and were happy to enable greater understanding of our operations that are so often mischaracterized and criticized. The trial has been a pivotal learning experience and has helped us to prepare for REM installation for operations in Scottish waters. The trial has also shown that fitting cameras is the easy bit; the collation and analysis of, and deriving value from, the vast data sets that will be created is where the focus now needs to be.”
The U.K. announcement comes several months after the Scottish government announced its own REM requirements for pelagic fishing vessels 12 or more meters in length. According to an Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) policy brief, the regulation, which went into effect March 2026, applies to all 22 vessels in Scotland’s pelagic fleet and the 155 non-Scottish vessels known to fish Scottish waters.
According to EJF, REM programs are key to enforcing European Union and U.K. prohibitions on discarding fish at sea to make room for a higher value catch. The NGO claims pelagic freezer trawlers are at high risk for violating those rules, with little visibility into whether the vessels are following the law. EJF has called for compulsory REM on all relevant pelagic vessels operating in U.K. or E.U. waters.
“Leaving such vast trawlers unmonitored opens the door to serious unreported fishing, with potentially devastating consequences for ocean life and coastal fishing communities,” EJF CEO and Founder Steve Trent said earlier this year. “The E.U. must follow suit to ensure that all vessels across shared E.U.-U.K. waters achieve the same standards. The result will be fairer competition, stronger protection for fish populations, and a sustainable fishing future.”
