Since the beginning of the 21st century, electronic monitoring (EM) has emerged as a cost‐efficient supplement to existing catch monitoring programmes in fisheries. An EM system consists of various activity sensors and cameras positioned on vessels to remotely record fishing activity and catches. The first objective of this review was to describe the state of play of EM in fisheries worldwide and to present the insights gained on this technology based on 100 EM trials and 12 fully implemented programmes. Despite its advantages, and its global use for monitoring, progresses in implementation in some important fishing regions are slow. Within this context, the second objective was to discuss more specifically the European experiences gained through 16 trials. Findings show that the three major benefits of EM were as follows: (a) cost‐efficiency, (b) the potential to provide more representative coverage of the fleet than any observer programme and (c) the enhanced registration of fishing activity and location. Electronic monitoring can incentivize better compliance and discard reduction, but the fishing managers and industry are often reluctant to its uptake. Improved understanding of the fisher's concerns, for example intrusion of privacy, liability and costs, and better exploration of EM benefits, for example increased traceability, sustainability claims and market access, may enhance implementation on a larger scale. In conclusion, EM as a monitoring tool embodies various solid strengths that are not diminished by its weaknesses. Electronic monitoring has the opportunity to be a powerful tool in the future monitoring of fisheries, particularly when integrated within existing monitoring programmes.

Denmark was the first nation in Europe to promote the use of Fully Documented Fisheries (FDF) through Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) and CCTV camera systems, with pilot schemes in place since 2008. In theory, such a scheme could supplement and even potentially replace expensive control and monitoring programmes; and when associated with a catch quota management (CQM) system, incentivize positive changes in fishing patterns in a results-based management approach. New data flows are, however, required to ensure the practical implementation of such a scheme. This paper reviews the quality of the FDF data collected during 2008–2014 and their potential in strengthening information on cod discards. The analyses demonstrate the improved reporting of discards in logbooks and overall discard reductions, but they also show that some uncertainties around the absolute estimates of discard quantities have remained. Regular validation of weight estimation methods and close collaboration between scientific monitoring and control are important to support the use of reported discards as a reliable source of information. We discuss the potential of electronic monitoring in the context of the EU landing obligation.

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a b s t r a c tA key challenge for fisheries science and management is the access to reliable and verifiable catch data. In science, the challenge is to collect reliable, precise and traceable data to provide sound advice. In management, the challenge is that catch documentation is necessary to enforce regulations. Currently, catch inspection at sea, self-reporting through e-log and on-board observers are the primary methods to document catches at sea. However, at-sea control and on-board observers are costly and have limited coverage, while self-reporting is susceptible to fraud and provides limited coverage. New cost-effective methods are currently emerging involving Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) and on-board cameras. Previous studies have tested REM with promising results. However, evaluation of the potential biases of REM is needed before full benefits can be obtained. We deployed REM with on-board cameras on 14 fishing vessels and were able to inspect 56% of 1523 hauls made in the 6 month trial period, using an estimated 582 man-hours of video audit. The results showed an overall good agreement between the fishers self-reported discards and the video inspectors discard estimates. However, there was large variation in precision between individual vessels and species. Additionally, trial setup and process errors were shown to have a large effect on the precision of the video inspectors discard estimates. Nevertheless, despite challenges, REM was evaluated to have the potential to streamline monitoring and scientific documentation in a medium-size fishing fleet.