Fishing Vessel Monitoring Systems: Past, Present and Future

VMS: Past, Present and Future 36
6.0 International cooperation and IUU fishing
From the very beginning, proponents have stressed the potential of VMS as a
tool against IUU fishing. It should be pointed out once again, however, that VMS,
for all its qualities, provides only the position, speed and course of a vessel. As
such, it will never be the panacea for IUU fishing that some have claimed. Still,
used properly, its potential as a valuable tool in the war against IUU fishing, is
undoubted.
Such potential can become a reality, however, only in the context of widespread,
and timely, sharing of the data gathered via VMS between coastal and flag
states. Unfortunately, there are remarkably few examples of such exchange and
sharing at the time of this writing.
6.1 The European example
One counter-example of widespread cooperation would appear to be the
European Union, where each member state routinely provides each other with
near-real-time position data on their vessels when they report positions in the
EEZ of another member state. Such cooperation has been extended to flag
states whose vessels fish in EU waters, and to coastal states in whose waters
EU vessels operate.
As admirable as this initiative would seem, it is, unfortunately, an unlikely model
for the rest of the world. This is simply because the coastal states of the
European Union are joined by a powerful central administration (the European
Commission) as well as a common legislature (the European Parliament).
Furthermore, the EU is such a powerful entity in international relations, that it is
difficult to resist in its imposition of conditions upon its trading partners. No other
agglomeration of countries benefits from such institutional solidity.
6.2 The South Pacific
That this is the case can be seen in comparison with the Forum Fisheries Agency
(FFA) of the South Pacific. When VMS was first implemented in this region, the
FFA developed what remains one of the most ambitious, and impressive,
programmes for the implementation of VMS on a regional basis. This plan
included extensive technical specifications for the equipment to be used aboard
vessels, as well as for its installation.
And whilst it would be far too severe to call the effort a failure, it is only fair to say
that it never reached its full potential because the structure linking the FFA
countries is, of necessity, much looser than the one that operates in the EU.