UK Sea Fisheries Statistics: Quality assessment into full year of Catch Recording data now complete
Source: gov.uk (2025-10-09)

The Marine Management Organisation has concluded its quality assessment into 2024 landing data for under-10m vessels.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) has today 9 October 2025 published the outcome of its quality assessment into the landing data for under-10m vessels from Catch Recording for 2024. This fulfils a commitment made last year when MMO voluntarily suspended its accredited official statistics designation of the Sea Fisheries Statistics publications.

Catch Recording is a service for skippers of U10m fishing vessels registered in England, Wales and Isle of Man to record their catch and submit their records directly to their respective fisheries authority. It offers several routes to report data: through a dedicated mobile app, web browser or by phone. Data collected via the Catch Recording service was introduced into the MMO official statistics in place of data captured via Sales Notes from the beginning of 2024. It is intended to provide a more accurate representation of catches from this sector.

The investigation by MMO into the statistical quality of the data received from Catch Recording showed evidence of missing data. This appears to be related to unexpected technical issues with the mobile app throughout 2024 where users informed MMO that some of their data was not transferring to the systems, rather than an issue with the wider service. As a result the headline landing figures for under-10m vessels, including weight and value of fish landed, are not accurately represented in the published statistics for 2024 onwards.

MMO remains committed to working to the highest standards to support industry. In the short term, the organisation will return to using information from Sales Notes to report the volume and value of landings by under-10m vessels registered in England, Wales and the Isle of Man in its published statistics. These records will be supplemented by activity data, such as gear used, fishing area and port of landing, where they are available via the Catch Recording submissions.

MMO’s Chief Statistician Rebekah Paul, explained:

Landing data forms an essential part of the marine and fisheries evidence base. It is key to informing activity and policy related to fisheries, including quota negotiations and management, policy development and assessing the economic contribution of the sector. Therefore, it is paramount that we ensure the data is of the highest quality and we work to the highest standards.

Our assessment has revealed gaps in records for under-10m vessels, related to the unforeseen technical challenges with the Catch Recording app. To ensure the most accurate and consistent statistics possible, we have decided to return to using information from Sales Notes to report weight and value of landings. This will continue to be the case while work is underway to address technical issues experienced with the Catch Recording App.

So that we have enough time to quality assure the new technical solution for the under-10m vessel data, we have decided on a short delay to the publication of the Sea Fisheries Statistics 2024. This will now be released on 27 November 2025.”

Catch Recording remains an important tool in the collection of key data from the Under-10m sector and a thorough review of the functionality of the app is now underway. In the meantime, registered users of the Catch Recording service are being contacted with further guidance on how to check that their records are being successfully sent, and what to do should they find an issue.

Michael Coyle, MMO Director of Digital & Analysis, added:

We are actively working to understand the problem, and we appreciate your patience and support as we do so. We are planning a phase of user research to inform options to make improvements to this service in the future.

Your data remains important, and it is vital that we continue to receive information to help safeguard our seas and support sustainable fishing now and for the long term. Getting good traceability right shows accountability, boosts the industry’s reputation, and opens doors to global seafood markets.”

The UK Sea Fisheries Statistics 2024 will be published on 27 November 2025. This will include revised data for 2024 and will be accompanied by revisions to published data for 2025.

Further updates will follow on progress to resolve functionality within the catch recording app.