15-12-2025

Expanding Projects and Partnerships

Over the past year, Anchor Lab has continued to grow, expanding our team, strengthening our capabilities, and deploying more than 80 new systems.

Expanding Into A New Fishing Sector

A key driver of this progress has been the introduction of the Scottish Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) Regulation. These new rules require pelagic vessels fishing within Scottish waters, regardless of their home nation, to be equipped with REM systems and to provide monitoring data to the Scottish Marine Directorate.

As interest in these regulations grew late last year and into early 2025, we dedicated substantial effort to optimizing our systems and workflows. This focus has paid off, many North European pelagic vessels are now equipped with our REM systems and are preparing for validation under the new Scottish framework.

You can read more about Electronic Monitoring and its role in pelagic fisheries here.

Continuing Collaborations

We are also pleased to announce that, together with our project partner SINAY, we have secured a new contract with CEFAS under the Clean Catch Programme, an initiative aimed at reducing bycatch and protecting sensitive species.

As part of this collaboration, SINAY will lead new REM trials focused on bird interactions in UK demersal trawl fisheries, as well as conduct analysis of existing REM data related to marine mammal interactions.

Anchor Lab will act as the exclusive provider of REM systems for these trials. Since both SINAY and CEFAS are already familiar with our analysis platform, BlackBox Analyzer, the tool will also be used for reviewing and interpreting the collected REM footage and sensor data.

We are proud to continue our partnership with SINAY and look forward to building on our shared commitment to advancing sustainable and responsible fishing practices.

EU Projects and Beyond

Amidst new contracts and customers, we remain actively involved in several EU-funded projects. The newest of these, ECO-CATCH, has just launched its splash page, with the full website set to go live in January.

While waiting for the full launch, you can get a first look at the project by watching its short introductory video.

Looking ahead, Anchor Lab will continue expanding our partnerships, supporting new regulatory frameworks, and delivering dependable Electronic Monitoring solutions across oceans. Our mission remains clear, to empower fisheries with transparent, data-driven tools that support both compliance and sustainability.