Fishing Vessel Monitoring Systems: Past, Present and Future

VMS: Past, Present and Future 23
factor which restricts its use to very specific geographical and topological
environments.
4.2 independent verification at the FMC
A final method of VMS verification could be carried out at the FMC and would be
based upon rigorous analysis of VMS data, in an attempt to identify tampered
data through the recognition of internal anomalies in that data. Though this
approach might seem to be promising for its independence of other input, very
little work has so far been done to advance such methodologies.
By simply gathering and storing data, thus making it available in a timely manner
to relevant personnel, VMS can significantly improve the efficiency of compliance
operations: when patrol vessels and aircraft know where vessels are fishing, the
time required to find them for purposes of verification and control is reduced to a
minimum.
4.3 Working at the FMC
Were this the only advantage of VMS, it would probably still be worth the
required investment in time and resources. But an FMC has the potential of
supplementing this worth by taking an active role in detection of fishing violations.
As many infractions of fisheries regulations have to do with fishing, or even being
present, in unauthorised zones, VMS data can identify violators with a very high
degree of accuracy. Still, the actual detection of fishing activity remains a less
than scientific activity for a number of reasons, principally limited by the analytical
capabilities of FMCs.
In its current state, data analysis at an FMC is limited to manipulation of the data
sets that are received: position (latitude and longitude) speed and course from
the vessel end, sea charts and vessel records from the FMC end. A typical
analytical script at an FMC might thus be to geographically delimit areas where
fishing was restricted or forbidden, and then to create an alarm when a vessel
reported a position that was 1) within the delimited area and 2) was reporting a
speed that might be compatible with fishing activity.
Useful as such analysis might be, it does require a trained operator to respond to
the alarm, call up the vessel’s track, and make a personal determination as to the
probability of actual fishing activity. In most cases, such judgements are
relatively easy as the grid pattern movements of a trawler might be clearly visible,
or the movements required for a longliner to lay out its line then return to its
starting point and then retrace the path along which it was laid out, this time at
much slower speed whilst fishing. The judgement of the operator becomes more