Written question asked by Royston Smith (Conservative) on Friday, 1 September 2023, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 5 September 2023. It was answered by Mark Spencer (Conservative) on Monday, 11 September 2023 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Fishing Vessels: Monitoring

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of inshore vessel monitoring systems purchased by fishers were installed by each of the four approved suppliers before the removal of type approval for the systems provided by Maritime Systems Ltd and Starlink.

Answer: The Marine Management Organisation type-approved four devices in 2021 after suppliers provided evidence of their specification. It then commissioned independent assurance testing in November 2022 on all four devices to provide further assurance. Two of the devices failed the assurance process, including the Maritime Systems Ltd MS44 device. Prior to their suspension, Maritime Systems Ltd had installed approximately 70% of all devices purchased by fishers.

Secondary information