EU supertrawlers spent an estimated 14,530 hours fishing in Scottish waters in one year, environmeFebruary 1, 2026s have said. The 10 vessels, which are over 100m long, spent thousands of hours in the UK’s waters in the year to 1 February 2026.
Steve Trent, CEO and Founder of the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF), said: “Between them, these 10 vessels spent over a year and a half of continuous fishing time in Scottish waters last year. Leaving such vast trawlers unmonitored opens the door to serious unreported fishing, with potentially devastating consequences for ocean life and coastal fishing communities.
The EJF raised concerns over unreported discarding of fish at sea to make room for more valuable catch, which is illegal under both EU and UK law.
The charity warned that pelagic freezer trawlers are seen as « high risk » for this because of the intensity of their fishing and their targeting of high-volume species.
It said that when fish are discarded and not reported, the true volume caught is concealed, making high-risk supertrawler fishing essentially invisible.
The EJF wants remote electronic monitoring (REM), including CCTV cameras on board vessels, to be the key to tackling this.
REM provides independent, verifiable records of what vessels catch and if they throw anything away, keeping fishing intensity within legal limits by deterring illegal discards.
EJF is calling for RM to be compulsory on all relevant pelagic vessels across the UK and EU waters.
Mr Trent said: « Scotland’s introduction this weekend of Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM), including CCTV, is a decisive step forward.
« The rest of the UK and the EU must follow suit to ensure that all vessels across shared EU-UK waters achieve the same standards. The result will be fairer competition, stronger protection for fish populations and a sustainable fishing future.”
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