Russian fishing bodies propose mandatory digital tracking of recreational catches

A Russian business commission and the public council at the federal fisheries agency have proposed mandatory electronic tracking of recreational catches, according to recommendations reported by RIA Novosti.

The proposal would initially focus on marine and designated fishing sites. Its authors want the Electronic Fishing Log to record permits issued by fishing organisers and the species and quantities caught.

They argue that incompatible regional systems force travelling anglers to register repeatedly and prevent automatic aggregation of catch data. The proposed system is intended to help enforce daily catch limits and stop illegal catches being marketed as recreational fishing.

The recommendations cite trials in Arkhangelsk, Magadan and Sakhalin regions and Kamchatka. Rosrybolovstvo previously described a recreational version of the log that can collect permit data and accept reports of actual catches.

German Zverev, who chairs the fishing commission of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and Rosrybolovstvo’s public council, told RIA Novosti that the recommendations were sent to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev on September 25. According to Zverev, the government has instructed ministries and agencies to examine them.