The Government have for a number of years been actively encouraging the widespread application of more selective gears by the UK fleet, developed with the assistance of departmental funding. In this period, we have also worked with the European Commission (and other member states) to introduce a range of enhanced technical measures at Community level, designed to make EU fisheries more sustainable for the longer-term. These have included increases in mesh size, the adoption of sorting grids and the application of square mesh panels in particular fisheries.