Stricter monitoring of sea vessels urged

MANILA, Philippines — Marine conservation group Oceana Philippines is pushing for a stronger implementation on the use of vessel monitoring measures (VMM) to ensure sea safety and fisheries sustainability.

Based on the Amended Fisheries Code, all local commercial fishing vessels must install automated identification system (AIS) and VMM by 2020 to institutionalize measures for sea safety and fisheries transparency in the country.

VMM has been identified as the best method to ensure that fishing vessels operate only in designated zones, enhancing transparency and traceability, through the use of satellites, GSM or radio waves to plot the location and course of vessels.

Oceana continues to look for cheaper alternatives that can be used by medium and small-scale fisherfolks for them to comply with the law and create a more sustainable industry.

“We’re looking for ways to better implement our environmental and fisheries laws and we welcome solutions offered by service providers and other innovators,” Oceana Philippines vice president Gloria Ramos said.

Local company Futuristic Aviation and Maritime Enterprises (FAME) has developed a more affordable monitoring system that uses radio waves instead of the typical satellite-dependent AIS.

Created by Filipino engineer Junjun Fetizanan, the system uses one-pound electronic transponders which broadcast a vessel’s location and route to a receiver or relay station up to 50 kilometers away.

The data is then beamed up to the web, where administrators can check data in real-time.

“The FAME platform costs about P800 monthly, making it a dozen times cheaper than AIS. After the third year of subscription, fishers will own the transponders,” Ramos said.

Affixed to boat masts or roofs and powered by solar panels, the tamper-proof devices can send data every specified intervals, acting as warning devices when a switch is triggered and ensuring that fishing vessels stay within their designated zones.

Oceana is pilot testing around 15 transponders in the Visayas’ Tañon Strait, Siquijor, Estancia in Iloilo, Negros Occidental, as well as the waters of General Santos in Mindanao.

These areas are among the top fishing grounds in the country which comprise almost 10 percent of the country’s wild fish catch, frequented by commercial fishers.

Oceana said more than 50 commercial fishing vessels will be kitted-out with the device before the year ends.

The monitoring system also allows fishers to detect illegal and commercial fishers in a certain area, particularly in municipal waters.

Data from the the European Union showed that about 26 million metric tons of seafood or about 15 of global yields are being caught via illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

This resulted in the issuance of a yellow card to the Philippines in 2014 for the country’s failure to curb IUU fishing which can lead to the eventual banning of local seafood products.