Annex 4 - EU UK

The UK had just two drifting longliners operating in the IOTC Convention area in 2019. The vessels were between 39 and 45 metres and operated mostly in the south western area of the Indian Ocean on high seas, targeting large pelagic species (blue shark, swordfish and tunas). The UK’s scientific observer programme started in mid-2017 and the first full year of sampling data, covering around 11 percent of fishing days, was reported in 2019