🎣 Why was the RecFishing pilot launched?
The RecFishing Proof of Concept was an initiative commissioned by the European Commission at the end of 2019.
The pilot phase, developed by FishFriender on behalf of the Commission, was made publicly available in October 2020 to encourage recreational fishers to record their catches of sensitive species such as sea bass, cod, pink seabream, and Atlantic salmon.
The goal of the pilot project was to enable sea anglers to easily report their catches without changing their usual habits, in order to collect data at European level and help Member States improve the management of the activity.
The data collected during the pilot, which were centralised and anonymised, proved useful to explore how digital tools could support the collection of recreational fisheries data and inform management decisions.
This pilot project ended in 2022.
Since then, the European legislative framework has evolved, leading to the creation of a new RecFishing IT system under the revised Fisheries Control Regulation (EU) 2023/2842 and its Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/274. This new system is being developed by the European Commission and will be operated at EU level in close cooperation with Member States.
From January 2026 onwards, the new EU RecFishing system will become the reference platform for the mandatory registration and catch reporting by recreational fishers wishing to fish at sea in a number of countries of the European Union.
⚖️ Is Catch Reporting Mandatory?
During the pilot phase (RecFishing PoC), reporting catches was entirely voluntary.
However, with the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2023/2842 on fisheries control — and in particular Article 55 on recreational fisheries — new requirements will apply as of 10 January 2026.
Each EU Member State will be responsible for implementing this regulation at national level, defining the framework and the measures to be applied.
The European Commission is currently developing a new RecFishing IT system to support these obligations, in cooperation with the Member States.
It is therefore important for fishers to stay informed, as the implementation will progress over the coming months.
Some countries have already indicated their intention to make reporting mandatory for certain species from 2026 onwards — most likely for sensitive species covered by specific management plans.
These measures may seem restrictive, but keep in mind that by reporting your catches, you help provide essential information about recreational fishing, strengthen its socio-economic recognition, and contribute to better resource protection.
Practices are changing in every field. As fishers and protectors of aquatic ecosystems, we must be transparent about our activities so that competent authorities can take appropriate and coherent measures to protect sensitive species.
This is the only way to avoid overly restrictive or unfair decisions, often taken under the precautionary principle when reliable data are missing to compare the impact of recreational fishing with that of small-scale coastal or industrial fisheries.
