Course For FMC Operators - EU

Course for EU Fisheries
Monitoring Centres’
operators on Vessel
Tracking Systems
Course for EU Fisheries
Monitoring Centres’
operators on Vessel
Tracking Systems
VERSION 1 (2019)
Disclaimer
This course for EU fisheries monitoring centres’ operators on vessel tracking systems
is a training manuscript. It can be used by EU Member States competent authorities
and the European Commission for the training of their staff.
It is not a legal document and by no means replaces the legislative framework for
the application of the common fisheries policy set by the EU or other legal provisions
established at EU and at national level.
More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu).

Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.
Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2016
Print ISBN 978-92-9209-088-3 doi:10.2835/186968 QV-01-19-423-EN-C
PDF ISBN 978-92-9209-089-0 doi:10.2835/748097 QV-01-19-423-EN-N
© European Union, 2016
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Course for EU Fisheries Monitoring Centres’
operators on Vessel Tracking Systems
1 Introduction 7
1.1 Course objectives 7
1.2 Overview and main concepts 7
2 Overview of existing vessel tracking systems, satellite

monitoring and integrated systems 9
2.1 Vessel tracking systems 9
2.2 Satelitte monitoring 22
2.3 Integrated tools 24
3 Cross-checking vessel tracking systems 26
3.1 Vessel lists and registers 26
3.2 Maritime boundaries and other areas 29
3.3 Fisheries areas 31
3.4 Restricted areas 35
3.5 Other sources of information that may be available to FMCs 38
EFCA — COURSE FOR FISHERIES MONITORING CENTRES’ OPERATORS ON VESSEL TRACKING SYSTEMS 3
4 Fishing vessel activity - vessel tracking systems 42
4.1 Identify fishing vessels’ activities during a fishing trip 42
4.2 Transhipment 43
4.3 Transferring/caging 45
5 Fishing vessel gear type – vessel tracking systems 47
5.1 Towed gears 47
5.2 Passive fishing gears 57
5.3 Purse seiners 63
6 Conformity of fishing vessel activity 67
6.1 Check conformity with spatial and temporal restrictions 67
6.2 Check conformity with technical measures and fishing effort 80
6.3 Cross-check fishing vessel track with logbook information 84
6.4 Cross-check vessel track with access rights & opportunities 88
6.5 Cross-check vessel track with sightings from patrol assets 89
6.6 Cross-check vessel track with VTS radar 91
7 Check conformity with member state obligations for VMS

exchange and storage of vessel track data 93
7.1 General 93
7.2 Exchanges between EU MS 93
7.3 Confidentiality of Data 94
4 EFCA — COURSE FOR FISHERIES MONITORING CENTRES’ OPERATORS ON VESSEL TRACKING SYSTEMS
Annexes 95
A. Glossary 95
B. References 96
C. Links 97
D. RFMOs websites 98
E. AIS websites 99
List of figures
Figure 1 — VMS DATA FLOW 16
Figure 2 — VMS BRIDGE (BELOW DECK) COMPONENT 17
Figure 3 — SELECTION OF VMS ANTENNA UNITS 18
Figure 4 — INSERTION OF POWER ‘ON/OFF’SWITCH 19
Figure 5 — VMS ANTENNA WRAPPED IN ALUMINIUM FOIL 19
Figure 6 — SELECTION OF AIS TRANSPONDERS 21
Figure 7 — LONG RANGE IDENTIFICATION AND TRACKING (LRIT) 22
Figure 8 — VESSEL TRAFFIC SYSTEM (VTS) - (SOURCE: SAAB) 23
Figure 9 — Overall Earth Observations coverage for a given AREA - (SOURCE EFCA) 25
Figure 10 — FISHING VESSEL TRACK WITH VMS POSITIONS ONLY (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 26
Figure 11 — FISHING VESSEL TRACK COMBINING VMS AND AIS POSITIONS
(SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 27
Figure 12 — EFCA IMS LABEL OPTIONS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 27
Figure 13 — LINK TO EU FLEET REGISTER VIA EFCA IMS 29
Figure 14 — EU FLEET REGISTER HOME PAGE 29
Figure 15 — EXAMPLE OF VESSEL SEARCH IN EU FLEET REGISTER 30
Figure 16 — OVERVIEW OF DIFFERENT SEA AREAS/ZONES 32
Figure 17 — FAO FISHING AREA 27. SUB-AREAS AND DIVISIONS (SOURCE: FAO) 34
Figure 19 — GFCM AREAS (SOURCE: FAO) 36
Figure 20 — EXAMPLE OF FRA’s IN THE BALTIC SEA (SOURCE: EFCA) 37
Figure 21 — EXAMPLE OF FRA’s IN THE NORTH SEA (PLAICE BOX) (SOURCE: EFCA) 38
Figure 22 — EXAMPLE OF FRA’s IN THE IRISH SEA AND CHANNEL (IRISH BOX/MACKEREL BOX)
(SOURCE: EFCA) 38
Figure 23 — FRA’S IN STRAITS OF SICILY (SOURCE: OCEANA) 39
Figure 24 — ERS SCREENSHOT OF A FISHING TRIP INFORMATION (SOURCE: EFCA) 40
Figure 25 — EXAMPLE OF SEARCHING FOR FISH, FISHING OPERATION AND TRANSIT OF
PURSE SEINER (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 44
Figure 26 — POSSIBLE TRANSHIPMENT IN SOUTH ATLANTIC - IMAGE 1 (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 45
Figure 27 — POSSIBLE TRANSHIPMENT IN SOUTH ATLANTIC - IMAGE 2 (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 46
Figure 28 — POSSIBLE TRANSHIPMENT ON HIGH SEAS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 46
Figure 29 — BFT PS SEARCHING FOR A SCHOOL OF TUNA (AVERAGE SPEED 8-10 KNOTS)
Figure 30 — BFT PS FISHING OPERATION AND TRANSFER, ALSO TOWING VESSEL (SOURCE:
EFCA IMS) 48
Figure 31 — TOWING VESSEL TRACK DURING BFT PS CAMPAIGN (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 48
Figure 32 — BOTTOM OTTER TRAWL (SOURCE: FAO) 50
Figure 33 — BOTTOM TRAWLER TRACK – EX. 1 (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 50
Figure 34 — BOTTOM TRAWLER TRANSITING THROUGH A RESTRICTED AREA (IN BLUE) – EX. 2
Figure 35 — BOTTOM TRAWLER TRACK (SOURCE: Denmark FMC) (1st Zoom & 2nd Zoom) 51
Figure 36 — BOTTOM PAIR TRAWLER TRACKS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 52
Figure 37 — BEAM TRAWL (SOURCE: FAO) 53
Figure 38 — BEAM TRAWLER – fig. 1 (WITH ZOOM) (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 53
Figure 39 — BEAM TRAWLER FISHING ACTIVITY IN THE NORTH SEA – FIG. 2 (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 54
Figure 40 — MIDWATER OTTER TRAWL (SOURCE: FAO and DNK FMC) 54
Figure 41 — MIDWATER PAIR TRAWLER (SOURCE: FAO) 55
Figure 42 — PELAGIC PAIR TRAWLER TRACKS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 55
Figure 43 — FLY-SEINE FISHING OPERATION (SOURCE: FAO) 56
Figure 44 — DANISH SEINE FISHING OPERATION TRACK (SOURCE: EFCA IMS -VMS/AIS) 56
Figure 45 — DANISH SEINE FISHING PATTERN WITH SEVERAL FISHING OPERATIONS
(CIRCULAR MOVEMENTS) (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 57
Figure 46 — SCOTTISH SEINE WITH FISHING OPERATION (WITH ZOOM)
(SOURCE: DNK FMC) 57
Figure 47 — EXAMPLES OF DREDGES (SOURCE: FAO) 58
Figure 48 — DREDGER TRACKS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 58
Figure 49 — BOTTOM SETTT GILLNET (SOURCE: FAO) 59
Figure 50 — TRAMMEL NET (SOURCE: FAO) 59
Figure 51 — TRACK OF NETTER OPERATING SEVERAL SETS OF NETS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 60
Figure 52 — NETTER TRACK (POSSIBLY OVER WRECK) WITH ZOOM (SOURCE: DNK FMC) 60
Figure 53 — BOTTOM LONG LINE (SOURCE: FAO) 61
Figure 54 — TRACK OF BOTTOM LONG LINER WITH ZOOM (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 61
Figure 55 — DRIFTING LONG LINE (SOURCE: FAO) 62
Figure 56 — DRIFTING LONG LINER TRACK (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 62
Figure 57 — DRIFITING LONGLINER FISHING OPERATION (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 63
Figure 58 — POTS (SOURCE: FAO) 63
Figure 59 — POTTER TRACK - 2 DAYS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 64
Figure 60 — PURSE SEINE (SOURCE: FAO) 65
Figure 61 — PURSE SEINE TRACK WITH 3 FISHING OPERATIONS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 66
Figure 62 — PURSE SEINE FISHING ACTIVITY (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 66
Figure 63 — PURSE SEINE TRACK, TRANSIT AND FISHING OPERATION WITH ZOOM
Figure 64 — BFT PS FISHING OPERATION AND TRANSFER (2 X FISHING VESSELS)
Figure 65 — TOWING VESSEL 1 (YELLOW), TOWING VESSEL 2 (GREEN) (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 68
Figure 66 — TRAWLER OPERATING IN PROHIBITED AREA (WITH ZOOM) (SOURCE: NLD FMC) 70
Figure 67 — TRAWLER OPERATING IN PROHIBITED AREA (SOURCE: NLD FMC) 70
Figure 68 — VMS TRACK OF DREDGER OPERATING IN PROHIBITED AREA
(SOURCE: FRA FMC) 71
Figure 69 — VMS DATA FOR DREDGER OPERATING IN PROHIBITED AREA
Figure 70 — VMS TRACK OF TRAWLER AT TOWING SPEED INSIDE 3-MILES’ LIMIT
Figure 71 — VMS REPORT (WITHOUT RECOVERED DATA) (SOURCE: NLD FMC) 73
Figure 72 — TRACK OF TRAWLER FISHING TRIP (WITH RECOVERED DATA)
(SOURCE: NLD FMC) 73
Figure 73 — TRACK OF TRAWLER AT TOWING SPEED (WITH RECOVERED DATA)
(SOURCE: NLD FMC) 74
Figure 74 — EXAMPLE OF OPEN/CLOSED FISHING SEASON AND AREAS FOR
SCALLOPS (SOURCE: FRA/DIRM) 75
Figure 75 — SUMMARY TABLE ON DEPTH RESTRICTIONS (SOURCE: IE/SFPA) 79
Figure 76 — LANDING OF TUNA BY NON-EU REEFER VESSEL (SOURCE: EFCA) 81
Figure 77 — LANDING OF TUNA BY NON-EU REEFER VESSEL (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 81
Figure 78 — ESTIMATION OF PASSIVE GEAR LENGTH (SOURCE: EFCA IMS) 82
Figure 79 — EXTRACT FROM COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2018/120 ANNEX IA 83
Figure 80 — TRAWLER FISHING TRIP TO ROCKALL (SOURCE: IRL FMC) 84
Figure 81 — FISHING AREAS VI AND VII, AND SUB-AREAS (SOURCE: ICES) 85
Figure 82 — VMS TRACK IN 44F4 (SOURCE: DNK FMC) 86
Figure 83 — ‘ZOOM-IN’ ON STATISTICAL RECTANGLE 44F4 (SOURCE: DNK FMC) 87
Figure 84 — LOGBOOK EXTRACT WITH CATCH AREA DECLARED AS 43F5
Figure 85 — VMS TRACK IN AREA IIIAS (SOURCE: DNK FMC) 88
Figure 86 — LOGBOOK EXTRACT WITH FISHING AREA DECLARED AS 3AN
Figure 87 — PHOTO FROM SIGHTING FORM SHOWING FV OPERATING LONG LINE
(SOURCE: ITA FMC) 91
Figure 88 — VMS TRACK SHOWING TYPICAL PELAGIC LONG LINER BEHAVIOUR (SOURCE: ITA
FMC) 92
Figure 89 — GROUP OF FV’s WITHIN 3NM OF COAST AT SPEEDS 3-5 KNOTS (SOURCE: ITA FMC) 93
Figure 90 — BEFORE NAVIGATING TOWARDS PORT, FISHING VESSEL’s SWITCH ON AIS
(SOURCE: ITA FMC) 94
Module 1 Perform the initial actions to start an inspection
Introduction 1
Course objectives 1.1
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 COURSE OBJECTIVES

The objective of this course is to provide an overview of the wide variety of systems and
tools used in a Fisheries Monitoring Centre (FMC) and to demonstrate how they are used
to gather and manage operational data, information and possibly intelligence. The course
will then show how this in turn is used to direct the control and enforcement assets in the
most efficient and effective manner.
1.2 OVERVIEW AND MAIN CONCEPTS

In the context of the European Union (EU) fisheries control regime, the FMC is an op-
erational centre established by a flag Member State (MS) and equipped with computer
hardware and software enabling automatic data reception, processing and electronic
data transmission (1). However, the vast majority of the world’s maritime countries that have
responsibility for fisheries monitoring, control and enforcement, have also established
FMCs in accordance with their flag/coastal states international obligations.
Within the EU, MS have the responsibility to establish and operate FMCs, which shall
monitor fishing activities and fishing effort (2). The FMC of a particular MS monitors the
fishing vessels flying its flag, wherever they operate, as well as EU fishing vessels flying
the flag of other MS and fishing vessels of third countries operating in the waters under
the sovereignty or the jurisdiction of that particular MS. EU FMCs must be equipped with
computer hardware and software enabling automatic data processing and electronic
data transmission. MSs provide for back-up and recovery procedures in case of system
failure (3).
Throughout the EU, there is a wide variety of organisations and agencies tasked with
providing the National FMC function with some MS’s capitalising on existing 24/7 opera-
tional centres. Some MS’s ensure that their FMC is manned by staff drawn from a number
of different control and enforcement entities, each bringing their particular skillset to the
overall coordination and control function.
In some instances, the FMC function is provided by military/naval staff and the centre
is co-located or adjacent to another maritime control centres. In other situations, the
FMC is established adjacent to a Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) or Joint
Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC). There are also occasions where some or all of the
FMC functions have been incorporated into a broader Coast Guard control centre. The
(1) Article 4.15 of
same diverse operational profile applies to many of the National and ‘Regional’ FMCs Regulation (EC) No
around the world. 1224/2009 commonly
referred to as the
Most FMCs have access to a vast array of fisheries data, information and intelligence, “Control Regulation”.
and fortunately, the majority of this is exchanged, managed and stored electronically. (2) Article 9.7 of the Control
Regulation.
A fishing vessel’s current position, course and speed, as well as its historical track will
(3) Article 9.8 of the Control
most likely be available on a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS), as well as an Automatic Regulation
1 Introduction
1.2 Overview and main concepts
Information System (AIS). Similarly, Vessel Traffic Systems (VTS) cover many fishing
grounds, and this is another source for fishing vessels track data. Depending on the
vessel size/type, it may also be subject to the Long-Range Identification and Tracking
(LRIT) system requirements.
Added to these systems, there is an ever increasing contribution from Earth Observations
(EO) from space, both visual and radar (SAR – Synthetic Aperture Radar), with the
Copernicus suite of services a good example.
The more traditional sources of vessels position data, such as sighting reports from air and
sea patrolling assets, are increasingly being transferred electronically in near real time,
and will soon be supplemented by similar reports from Remotely Piloted Aircrafts (RPAs).
This considerable range of data sources for fishing vessels positions and movement is
further enhanced with data on the real-time fishing activity of those vessels, as provided
by systems such as the Electronic Recording and Reporting System (ERS), which details
what fish were caught, and where and when they were caught. In many instances, the
ERS is linked to a quota management system where the cumulative catch is monitored
and alerts are provided when the catch is approaching or reaching quota limits. Similarly,
an Electronic Inspection Reporting System (EIR) will provide a snapshot for a particular
time and place, and will deliver a verified assessment of the catch retained on-board as
well as the type of gear/equipment being used.
In recent years there has also been a number of significant trials/pilots of Remote
Electronic Monitoring (REM), i.e. on-board integrated closed-circuit television (CCTV)
and sensor system, and it appears increasingly likely that this technology may become
part of the mainstream Monitoring Control and Surveillance (MCS) toolkit. Initially, it is
expected that these measures will require considerable manual intervention to carry
out the required review and analysis. However, as the technology improves the level of
human involvement in that analysis may diminish.
Many of the above systems will most likely be linked directly to the national vessels reg-
ister, which in turn would interact with a regional register, such as the EU Fleet Register
or a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO) Register. Very often, one or
more of the above systems is linked to, or may incorporate, data on, licencing, fishing
authorisations and permits. There is also a selection of more static information available
to the FMC, ranging from definitions/coordinates of jurisdictional boundaries, closed
areas, etc. to IUU vessels’ lists, vessel target lists, etc.
In an ideal world, all of the above electronic systems would be fully integrated, with a
highly sophisticated Business Intelligence tool capable of performing the necessary vali-
dations/verifications, cross-checks, risk analysis and then producing recommendations
on the tasking of patrolling assets and resources. However, if such a scenario represents
the top end of the scale, the vast majority of FMC’s will be positioned somewhere lower
along the scale, with varying degrees of automation and integration.
So, many of today’s FMCs will combine some highly automated and integrated analysis
functions with manual analysis procedures where operators will bring their knowledge,
skills and experience to bear on determining the operational risk of a particular situation.
This analysis will be critical in ensuring the most effective and efficient use of MCS assets
(i.e. inspectors, patrol vessels, patrol aircraft, RPA’s, etc.).
Overview of existing vessel tracking systems, satellite monitoring and integrated systems 2
Vessel tracking systems 2.1
2 OVERVIEW OF EXISTING VESSEL

TRACKING SYSTEMS, SATELLITE
MONITORING AND INTEGRATED
SYSTEMS
2.1 VESSEL TRACKING SYSTEMS
2.1.1 Vessel Monitoring System (VMS)

The VMS is a satellite-based monitoring system which at regular intervals provides data
to the fisheries authorities on the location, course and speed of vessels. The EU legisla-
tion (4) requires that all flag and coastal EU MS should set up systems that are compatible
with each other, so that countries can share data and the European Commission can
monitor that the rules are respected.
· Legal provisions
Scope:
Union fishing vessels of 12 metres length overall or more are required to have a fully
functioning VMS onboard. However, a MS may exempt fishing vessels between 12 and
15 metres if they operate exclusively within territorial waters or never spend more than
24 hours at sea. Fishing vessels from non-EU MS are obliged to have a VMS if they are
authorised to operate in Union waters.
(4) Art. 9 of Regulation (EC)

No1224/2009.
2 Overview of existing vessel tracking systems, satellite monitoring and integrated systems
2.1 Vessel tracking systems
Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No1224/2009

Vessel monitoring system
1. Member States shall operate a satellite-based vessel monitoring system for effective
monitoring of fishing activities of the fishing vessels flying their flag wherever those
vessels may be and of fishing activities in the Member States’ waters.
2. Without prejudice to specific provisions contained in multiannual plans, a fishing
vessel of 12 metres’ length overall or more shall have installed on board a fully func-
tioning device which allows that vessel to be automatically located and identified
through the vessel monitoring system by transmitting position data at regular intervals.
It shall also allow the fisheries monitoring centre of the flag Member State to poll the
fishing vessel. For fishing vessels of 12 metres’ length overall or more and less than
15 metres’ length overall this Article shall apply as from 1 January 2012.
3. When a fishing vessel is in the waters of another Member State, the flag Member
State shall make available the vessel monitoring system data of that vessel by auto-
matic transmission to the fisheries monitoring centre of the coastal Member States.
The vessel monitoring system data shall also be made available upon request to the
Member State in whose ports a fishing vessel is likely to land its catches or in the
waters of which the fishing vessel is likely to continue its fishing activities.
4. If a Union fishing vessel operates in the waters of a third country or in areas of the
high sea where the fishing resources are managed by an international organisation
and, if the agreement with that third country or the applicable rules of that international
organisation so provide, those data shall also be made available to that country or
organisation.
5. A Member State may exempt Union fishing vessels of less than 15 metres’ length
overall flying its flag from the requirement to be fitted with a vessel monitoring system
if they:
(a) operate exclusively within the territorial seas of the flag Member State; or
(b) never spend more than 24 hours at sea from the time of departure to the return
to port.
6. Third country fishing vessels of 12 metres’ length overall or more and third country
auxiliary fishing vessels engaged in activities ancillary to fishing activities operating in
Union waters shall have installed on board a fully functioning device which allows such
a vessel to be automatically located and identified by the vessel monitoring system by
transmitting position data at regular intervals in the same way as Union fishing vessels.
[…]
Rules for VMS satellite devices

A vessel which is obliged to operate a VMS is not permitted to leave port without a fully
functioning VMS. However, the Flag State may permit the vessel to depart port for the
repair of the VMS.
A VMS may only be switched off if the FMC has been notified and that the next report
shows that the vessel has not changed position since the last received report.
Article 18 of Commission Implementing Regulation No404/2011

Requirement of satellite-tracking devices on Union fishing vessels
1. Without prejudice to Article 25(3) of this Regulation a Union fishing vessel subject
to VMS shall not be allowed to leave a port without a fully operational satellite-tracking
device installed on board.
2. When a Union fishing vessel is in port, the satellite-tracking device may only be
switched off if:
(a) prior notification has been given to the fisheries monitoring centre (FMC) of the
flag Member State and the FMC of the coastal Member State; and
(b) providing that the next report shows that the Union fishing vessel has not changed
its position in relation to the previous report.
The competent authorities of the flag Member State may allow to replace the prior
notification referred to in (a) with an automatic VMS message or alarm generated
by the system, indicating that the Union fishing vessel is within a pre-defined geo-
graphical area of a port.
3. This Chapter shall not apply to Union fishing vessels used exclusively for the
exploitation of aquaculture.
Information transmitted by the VMS

At regular interval the VMS will transmit the vessel identification, date time and position
accurate to 500 metres, and the instant speed/course of the vessel.

Characteristics of satellite-tracking devices
1. The satellite-tracking device installed on board Union fishing vessels shall ensure
the automatic transmission to the FMC of the flag Member State, at regular intervals,
of data relating to:
(a) the fishing vessel identification;
(b) the most recent geographical position of the fishing vessel, with a position error
which shall be less than 500 metres, with a confidence interval of 99 %;
(c) the date and time (expressed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)) of the fixing
of the said position of the fishing vessel; and
(d) the instant speed and course of the fishing vessel.
2. Member States shall ensure that satellite-tracking devices are protected against
input or output of false positions and cannot be manually over-ridden.
Responsibility of the master of a fishing vessel

The master is responsible for ensuring that the VMS is operational at all times. The VMS
information is normally transmitted every two hours but may be more frequent in restricted
areas or as required by the FMC. Any interference with data, antennas, or power sup-
plies, removal of the system from the vessel or in any other way to damage or render
inoperative the VMS is prohibited. The FMC shall have the capacity of polling the actual
position of each of its fishing vessels.

Responsibilities of the masters concerning the satellite-tracking devices
1. The masters of a Union fishing vessel shall ensure that the satellite-tracking devices
are fully operational at all times and that the data referred to in Article 19(1) of this
Regulation are transmitted.
2. Without prejudice to Article 26(1) of this Regulation, the master of a Union fishing
vessel shall ensure in particular that:
(a) the data are not altered in any way;
(b) the antenna or the antennas connected to the satellite tracking devices are not
obstructed, disconnected or blocked in any way;
(c) the power supply of the satellite-tracking devices is not interrupted in any way; and
(d) the satellite-tracking device is not removed from the fishing vessel.
3. It shall be prohibited to destroy, damage, render inoperative or otherwise interfere
with the satellite-tracking device unless the competent authorities of the flag Member
State have authorised its repair or replacement.
Article 21
Control measures to be adopted by flag Member States
Each flag Member State shall ensure the continuous and systematic monitoring and
control of the accuracy of the data referred to in Article 19 of this Regulation, and
shall act promptly whenever data are found to be inaccurate or incomplete.
Article 22
Frequency of data transmission
1. Each Member State shall ensure that its FMC receives, at least once every 2 hours,
through the VMS the information referred to in Article 19 of this Regulation concerning
its fishing vessels. The FMC may require the information at shorter time intervals.
2. The FMC shall have the capacity of polling the actual position of each of its fishing
vessel.
Failure of a VMS and non-receipt of data

The master of a fishing vessel who becomes aware of a failure of a VMS, or who is
informed by the FMC that the VMS is not operative, shall immediately communicate the
geographical coordinates of the vessel to the Flag FMC every 4 hours.
The Flag FMC while monitoring the VMS position shall inform the master or the operator
of the vessel where transmissions are not received for 12 hours.
Where failure occurs three times within the same calendar year, the Flag MS shall ensure
that the VMS is thoroughly checked.

Technical failure or non-functioning of the satellite-tracking device
1. In the event of a technical failure or non-functioning of the satellite-tracking device
fitted on board a Union fishing vessel, the master or his representative shall, starting
from the time that the event was detected or from the time that he was informed
in accordance with paragraph 4 or Article 26(1) of this Regulation, communicate
every 4 hours, to the FMC of the flag Member State the up-to-date geographical
coordinates of the fishing vessel by appropriate telecommunication means. Member
States shall decide on the telecommunication means to be used and indicate them
on the website referred to in Article 115 of the Control Regulation.
2. The FMC of the flag Member State shall enter the geographical positions referred
to in paragraph 1 into the VMS database without delay on their receipt. The manual
VMS data shall be clearly distinguishable in a database from automatic messages.
Where appropriate, those manual VMS data shall be transmitted without delay to
coastal Member States.
3. Following a technical failure or non-functioning of the satellite-tracking device,
a Union fishing vessel may only leave port once the satellite-tracking device fitted
on board is fully functioning to the satisfaction of the competent authorities of
the flag state. By derogation the FMC of the flag Member State may authorise its
fishing vessels to leave the port with a non-functioning satellite-tracking device for
its repair or replacement.
4. The competent authorities of the flag Member State or, where appropriate, of the
coastal Member State shall seek to inform the master of or the person responsible
for the vessel or their representative when the satellite-tracking device fitted on
board a Union fishing vessel appears to be defective or not fully functioning.
5. The removal of the satellite-tracking device for repair or replacement shall be
subject to the approval of the competent authorities of the flag Member State.
Article 26
Non-receipt of data
1. When the FMC of a flag Member State has not received data transmissions in
accordance with Article 22 or Article 25(1) of this Regulation for 12 consecutive
hours it shall notify the master or the operator of the Union fishing vessel or their
representative(s) thereof as soon as possible. If, in respect of an EU particular fishing
vessel, that situation occurs more than three times within a period of a calendar
year, the flag Member State shall ensure that the satellite-tracking device of the
fishing vessel is thoroughly checked. The flag Member State shall investigate the
matter in order to establish whether the equipment has been tampered with. By
way of derogation from Article 20(2)(d) of this Regulation, that investigation may
entail the removal of such equipment for examination.
2. When the FMC of a flag Member State has not received data transmissions for
12 hours in accordance with Article 22 or Article 25(1) of this Regulation and the
last received position was from within the waters of another Member State it shall
notify the FMC of that coastal Member State thereof as soon as possible.
3. When the competent authorities of a coastal Member State observe a Union
fishing vessel in its waters and have not received data in accordance with Article
24(1) or 25(2) of this Regulation, they shall notify the master of the fishing vessel
and the FMC of the flag Member State thereof.
· Technical aspects
A VMS is a form of satellite tracking using a GPS receiver, which plots the position of a
fishing vessel (in much the same way as a car Satnav or indeed a handheld GPS) and
then transmits that time-stamped position along with the vessels course and speed, to
the FMC of the flag MS.
The VMS transmissions are normally every 2 hours, or more frequently if required by a Flag
State for their own vessels. The reporting interval is lower in some areas e.g the waters
of Norway and the Faroes, as well as those covered by the North East Atlantic Fisheries
Commission (NEAFC) RFMO. Normally the VMS terminal is configured to automatically
change the reporting frequency when the vessel enters and exits these areas.
Figure 1 — VMS DATA FLOW
The original EU regulatory requirements were for the VMS terminals to communicate via satel-
lite transmission only, but now some systems have adopted a hybrid solution using a Global
Packet Radio System (GPRS) modem for GSM communication whilst closer to the coast.
VMS is today a key tool in the MCS suite of systems and there is a wide variety of VMS
systems in use throughout the world. Typically, depending on the vessel’s length and/
or the duration of its fishing trips, an EU fishing vessel will be required to be fitted with a
VMS terminal when it is operating in the waters under the jurisdiction of its Flag State. It
will also require it when operating in other MS waters or indeed the waters of a Regional
Fisheries Management Organisation (RFMO) such as NEAFC or the Northwest Atlantic
Fisheries Organisation (NAFO).
Similarly, if the EU vessel is operating in the waters of a third country with whom the
EU has a fishery agreement, such as Norway, Madagascar, Ivory Coast, etc., it will be
required to transmit VMS data to that country. In the vast majority of cases, only one
VMS terminal is required and the data is transmitted to the Flag State databases, before
onward transmission to the Coastal State.
The transmission of VMS data from an EU Flag State (on behalf of its fishing vessels) to
another EU Coastal State is done via the EU FLUX (Fisheries Language for Universal
Exchange) protocol. The FLUX provides a harmonised message standard, and is in-
creasingly becoming the transmission means between the EU and various RFMO’s and
third country coastal State’s. However, there remain a small number of situations where
a third country will require an EU fishing vessel to fit an additional VMS terminal in order
to transmit the data direct to that countries system.
Figure 2 — VMS BRIDGE (BELOW DECK) COMPONENT
Figure 3 — SELECTION OF VMS ANTENNA UNITS
As stated above, there is a variety of VMS systems in use throughout the world. The intel-
ligence and capacity of each of those systems will depend on the level of technological
sophistication incorporated in the actual on-board terminal, and/or the back office/shore
elements. For example, in some systems there is no ‘On/Off’ switch, but the system will
‘go to sleep’ when the vessel remains in the same location within a port, for a period. The
system will ‘wake up’ at configurable intervals (e.g. every hour or every 4 hours) to check
its location and if it has not moved, it will ‘go back to sleep’ again. This restricts the ability
of the master/crew to switch the system off in order to avoid exposure of illegal activity.
In other systems, the on-board terminal will incorporate considerable geo-fencing func-
tions and may be loaded with the coordinates of dozens of specific areas (e.g. ‘SAC’s
- Special Areas of Conservation’, ‘Closed Areas’ etc.). This permits the on-board terminal
to detect if the vessel has crossed into (or out of) an area and whether an alarm message
should be sent to the Flag State FMC. Were this functionality to be incorporated into the
back office element of the system, the back office will only be able to determine whether
such an entry or exit took place after it receives the two-hourly report from the vessel.
Consequently, the vessel could have been operating undetected within a specific area
for a period of up to two hours. These are just a few examples of how the technology
chosen can assist with the monitoring function. However, numerous other examples
will be provided later in this course. There are also possibilities of interference with the
physical components of the system. When VMS was first introduced, certain operators
used a variety of methods to restrict the transmission of position reports from their tamper
proof systems. Where the system did not have an ‘On/Off’ switch, the operator merely
inserted such a switch along the power supply cable (see fig. 4 below).
Figure 4 — INSERTION OF POWER ‘ON/OFF’SWITCH
In many instances, the vessel master/crew would also interfere with the transmission means.
Antenna cables can be damaged due to becoming ‘snagged’ on another piece of equipment.
In addition, another favourite was the fitting of metal bucket over the actual antenna. This
would prevent the actual transmission of the signal from the antenna. In the absence of a metal
bucket, a piece of aluminium foil could be wrapped around the antenna (see fig. 5 below).
Figure 5 — VMS ANTENNA WRAPPED IN ALUMINIUM FOIL
Depending of the technical choices of the MSs, the VMS device may include an internal
hard disk. In this case, when the device starts to operate correctly, the FMC may pull the
information stored in the hard disk during the “silent period” and receive information on
the origin of the lack of transmission. Other cases of manipulation reported were involving
an electronic application modifying the GPS information transmitted to the system, and
consequently transmitting fake positions.
2.1.2 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)
As outlined earlier, some VMS systems have been developed as hybrid systems with
transmission via satellite for offshore locations. They can then switch to GPRS modem
for Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication whilst closer to the coast. However,
in some instances MSs (e.g. Italy and the UK) have developed GPRS based VMS for
smaller vessels which are exempt from mandatory satellite transmission VMS.
In addition to the lower costs associated with the GPRS transmissions via the GSM net-
works, there is also the added advantage of higher data rates, allowing for more frequent
transmissions from the vessel concerned. However, the major disadvantage to the use
of this system is that the network coverage diminishes the further the location from the
coast. There are also many instances of ‘blind spots’ occurring along coastlines due to
shore topography and/or antenna locations.
2.1.3 Automatic Identification System (AIS)
“Automatic Identification System” (AIS) is a ship position reporting system based on

the transmission of messages from an on-board transponder and the receipt of mes-
sages from other vessels or land-based systems. AIS data cross-checking is part of the
data analysis to be ensured by MS in accordance with Art 109(2)(b)(v) of the Control
Regulation, when the system is compulsory and the data is available.
The international rules on maritime safety require that AIS is fitted on-board all vessels of
300 gross tonnage and upwards engaged on international voyages, cargo ships of 500
gross tonnage, and upwards not engaged on international voyages, and all passenger
ships irrespective of size. Specific vessel types (e.g. warships, naval auxiliaries and ships
owned/operated by governments) are not required to be fitted with AIS. The IMO adopted
the requirement for ships to carry AIS in 2000. The system was originally developed to
assist in collision avoidance and navigation safety, particularly in low/poor visibility.
At EU level, fishing vessels of overall length exceeding 15 metres are required to be
equipped with AIS (5), as from 2009. The AIS information can be displayed on-board
the vessels ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System) and other vessels
‘plotter(s)’. The messages transmitted by the AIS transponders contain a lot of informa-
tion, which can be grouped under the following:
a. Static information: MMSI, name, International Radio Call Sign (IRCS), International
Maritime Organisation (IMO) number, length and beam, type of ship, which are set
on installation of the equipment (6) (as applicable);
b. Dynamic information: position, position time (UTC), course, speed, automatically
provided by vessel’s equipment, and navigational status (moored, fishing,
underway by engine...), manually entered;
c. Voyage related information: draught, hazardous cargo type, destination and
(5) Article 10 of Regulation
(EC) No1224/2009 Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA), all being manually entered.
(6) Does not include
Fishing Vessels External
Marking
Figure 6 — SELECTION OF AIS TRANSPONDERS
Throughout the world, AIS plays an important role in traffic management, but also assists
authorities tasked with Coast Guard type functions by enhancing their domain awareness.
Vessels fitted with AIS can be tracked from shore.
One of the particular strengths of AIS is the frequency of the transmissions, which de-
pending on the transponder class (e.g. Class A and B), and the speed of the vessel, can
have transmission rates measured in seconds (i.e. 2-180 secs). However, as the system
transmits on VHF, the range is limited to a maximum of 40 nautical miles, dependent on
antenna height, power output, as well as weather and atmospheric conditions. This range
can be improved through the use of land-based and ship repeater stations.
In order to address this limited range issue, AIS has also moved into the use of satellite
technology. Vessels operating far off shore and out of range of the terrestrial networks,
can now transmit their AIS data via satellite. SAT-AIS is dependent on satellite coverage
but very often the transponder default transmission rates can be set at approx. 30 secs.
However, due to the additional costs associated with satellite communications, SAT-AIS
is normally updated every 6 minutes (a considerable improvement on the VMS transmis-
sion rate of 2 hours).
As stated above, the AIS requires a considerable amount of manual entry and this of
course leaves the system prone to abuse, and there have been instances when false/
incorrect information has been entered. Unlike the VMS, the AIS is not required to be tam-
per-proof. Consequently, the system is open to ‘spoofing’ i.e. when the vessel purposely
reports a false position instead of its actual position. However, knowing and recognising
this type of behaviour, can in itself, focus the attention of an experienced FMC operator.
2.1.4 Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT)
In May 2006, the IMO made amendments to the International Convention of Safety of Life
at Sea, 1974 (SOLAS) and introduced the establishment of the Long Range Identification
and Tracking system (LRIT) for reasons related to national security.
The main purpose of the LRIT ship position reports is to enable a Contracting Party to
obtain ship identity and location information in sufficient time to evaluate the security risk
posed by a ship off its coast and to respond, if necessary, to reduce any risks. The LRIT
system is mandatory for all passenger ships, high-speed craft, mobile offshore drilling
units and cargo ships of over 300 gross tonnes.
Figure 7 — LONG RANGE IDENTIFICATION AND TRACKING (LRIT)
LRIT Information is available to Contracting Parties who are entitled to receive information
about ships navigating within a distance up to 1,000 nautical miles off their coast, and
about ships, which have indicated an intention to enter a port irrespective of distance.
Administrations are entitled to receive information about their own-flagged ships irrespec-
tive of where the ships are located. National authorities bear all the costs associated with
LRIT and there are no charges to ships. LRIT information may also be made available
for SAR purposes.
The shipborne equipment is required to automatically transmit the LRIT information at
6-hour intervals to an LRIT Data Centre and be capable of being remotely configured
to transmit at variable intervals and be capable of responding to a polling command.
LRIT Data Centres are set up nationally or regionally by Governments and communicate
through an International LRIT Data Exchange. National authorities obtain LRIT data from
the Data Centres by request providing that they are so entitled according to an LRIT
Data Distribution Plan, which is administered by the IMO. In general, fishing vessels are
not subject to LRIT provisions, but cargo/reefer vessels and processing vessels may be
involved in transhipment operations at sea or in designated ports. In these particular
cases, these vessels should also be equipped with VMS as they are considered as
fishing vessels and carrying out fishing activities (7).
2.1.5 Vessel Traffic Services (VTS)
According to the IMO, Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) are shore-side systems, which
range from the provision of simple information messages to ships, such as the positions
of other traffic or meteorological hazard warnings, to extensive management of traffic
(7) Articles 4.31, 9.1 and
9.6 of Regulation (EC)
No1224/2009.
within a port or waterway. Generally, ships entering a VTS area are required to report to
the authorities, usually by radio, and may be tracked by the VTS control centre.
Ships must keep watch on a specific frequency for navigational or other warnings, while
they may be contacted directly by the VTS operator if there is risk of an incident or, in
areas where traffic flow is regulated, to be given advice on when to proceed. SOLAS
provides for governments to establish VTS when, in their opinion, the volume of traffic
or the degree of risk justifies such services.
Figure 8 — VESSEL TRAFFIC SYSTEM (VTS) - (SOURCE: SAAB)
Typically, VTS systems use a host of different systems and tools such as radar, CCTV,
VHF radiotelephony and AIS to keep track of vessel movements and provide navigational
safety in a limited geographical area. In addition to these sensors, VTS may also use pro-
cedures such as ‘vessel reporting points’ where the ship will notify the VTS control centre
of their current location, course and speed, and any other relevant information, thereby
giving the controllers advance warning for any critical traffic congestion or bottlenecks.
Radar is seen as one of the most important components of a VTS as it is not dependent on
any transmissions from the vessel(s) being tracked. If a vessel does not have an operating
AIS or VMS, either because one or both is not working or one or both of them has been
deliberately switched off, the radar plot will continue to track the vessel independently.
2.2 Satelitte monitoring
2.2 SATELITTE MONITORING
2.2.1 Copernicus Services – Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and

Optical
Copernicus is the EU’s Earth Observation Programme. Based on satellite and in situ obser-
vations, the Copernicus services deliver near-real-time data on a global level, which can
also be used for local and regional needs.
The Programme is coordinated and managed by the European Commission. It is imple-
mented in partnership with the MSs, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European
Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European
Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), EU Agencies and Mercator Ocean.
Copernicus is served by a set of dedicated satellites (the “Sentinel family”) and contributing
missions (existing commercial and public satellites). The Sentinel satellites are specifically
designed to meet the needs of the Copernicus services and their users. Since the launch
of Sentinel-1A in 2014, the EU set in motion a process to place a constellation of almost 20
more satellites in orbit before 2030.
In terms of fisheries monitoring, information of interest is provided by radar satellite images
and optical satellite images. Radar satellites, which carry Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
instruments, can detect vessels at sea under most conditions, day and night and through
clouds with high-resolution imaging. The sensor can operate in a number of modes i.e.
wide area - low detail, small area - high detail.
Optical satellites provide images of Earth’s surface but need day light and clear sky. Optical
imagers are amongst the most common instruments used for Earth observation with a
horizontal spatial resolution ranging of 1–300m. Copernicus Earth Observation images
can be integrated with other data both from European Maritime Safety Agency’s (EMSA)
maritime information applications and from external data sources. This additional data may
include information such as vessel location, identification and tracking data (for example
AIS, LRIT, and VMS), intelligence data provided by users, and external meteorological data.
Combining data makes the overall information provided to MSs more valuable, operationally.
Vessel position and track information, for example, overlaid on satellite images with a vessel
detection layer, provides a very powerful tool for checking on vessel activity at sea – includ-
ing verifying those vessels that are reporting, and locating vessels that are not reporting their
whereabouts. EMSA provides these fusion products to Copernicus Maritime Surveillance
service users according to their needs and to their access rights to the data.
Satelitte monitoring 2.2
Figure 9 — Overall Earth Observations coverage for a given AREA - (SOURCE EFCA)
2.2.2 Vessel Detection System (VDS)
Vessel Detection System (VDS) is a satellite based remote sensing technology, which
can identify vessels and detect their positions at sea (8). The VDS relies on radar satellite
images and optical satellite images. Radar satellites can operate day and night including
through clouds while optical satellites need day light and clear sky.
The Control Regulation (9) specifies that where MSs have clear evidence of a cost benefit
in relation to the traditional control means in the detection of fishing vessels, they shall
use a VDS allowing them to match the positions derived by remotely sensed images
sent to earth by satellites or other equivalent systems with the data received by VMS or
AIS, in order to assess the presence of fishing vessels in the area. MSs shall ensure that
their FMCs possess the technical capacity to use a VDS.
Vessel positions in all EU waters can be sent to FMCs. The delivery time depends on
the capacities of the ground stations. The VDS process is nearly automatic. The system
is not designed to replace aircraft and sea patrols but to complement them. The over-
view made available by VDS may provide basic information for identifying instances of
non-compliance.
(8) Article 4.13 of the

Control Regulation
(9) Article 11
2.3 Integrated tools
2.3 INTEGRATED TOOLS

The EFCA Integrated Maritime Services (IMS) is a Web-based integrated maritime picture
application developed by EMSA in close cooperation with EFCA for the fusion and cor-
relation of different vessel position datasets (e.g. VMS, AIS, LRIT, VDS) and enriched with
fisheries specific maritime information (such as gear type, licence information, maritime
boundaries, some restricted areas and other specific identifiers).
It provides a real time maritime awareness operational picture, combining data from VMS,
terrestrial AIS (T-AIS), satellite AIS (S-AIS), and LRIT position reports together with visual
sightings, as shown in the following screenshots. The first one (fig. 10) is providing the
track of a fishing vessel showing only VMS data, while the second one (fig. 11) provides all
the data made available by the EFCA IMS, for the same vessel and for the same period.
Figure 10 — FISHING VESSEL TRACK WITH VMS POSITIONS ONLY (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
Integrated tools 2.3
Figure 11 — FISHING VESSEL TRACK COMBINING VMS AND AIS POSITIONS

(SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
As the screenshots are both taken from EFCA IMS, it must be noted that the track line
itself is the result of the combination of both data sources i.e. VMS and AIS. However,
in fig. 10, only VMS positions are shown. Were the track to be based on VMS positions
only, it is less accurate and only displays straight lines between the VMS positions.
In addition to the ‘basic’ information, such as name, call sign, IMO number, speed, course
and position, several other items of information are also made available on the EFCA
IMS (see fig. 12 below)
Figure 12 — EFCA IMS LABEL OPTIONS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
3 Cross-checking vessel tracking systems
3.1 Vessel lists and registers
3 CROSS-CHECKING VESSEL TRACKING

SYSTEMS
3.1 VESSEL LISTS AND REGISTERS
3.1.1 IUU Vessels’ Lists
The fight against Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU) is based at
EU level on Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 and Commission Regulation (EC) No
1010/2009. These regulations require the publication of an IUU list of vessels and the
actions to be taken in the event of detection of a vessel reported as an IUU vessel.
RFMOs also establish their own list of IUU vessels and publish these lists on their
websites (see links in Annex).
3.1.2 Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) Vessel

Registers
RFMOs manage and publish lists of vessels authorised to operate in their convention
area. These lists are available on their website and apart from the technical details of
the vessels flag, registration number, IRCS, vessel type, length, tonnage etc., they also
provide details on the fishing authorisation such as:
a. Area/subareas in which the vessel may operate
b. Target species and by-catches
c. Fishing gear type authorised
d. Period when authorised
e. Type of vessel or of activity
3.1.3 EU Fleet Register
The EU Fleet Register is a database where all the fishing vessels flying the flag of a MS
have to be registered in accordance with EU legislation. It is publicly accessible on the
website http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/fleet/index.cfm allowing an FMC operator to
search for a fishing vessel and to display its technical characteristics as well as its history.
Information provided includes, in particular the name of the vessel, the vessel owner, its
length and tonnage, and the gear type(s) authorised.
The search option allows query by many criteria such as name, IRCS, length, tonnage,
port, external marking, main gear type, etc. The FMC operator is able to access the EU
Fleet Register via the EFCA IMS System (see fig. 13, 14 and 15 below).
Cross-checking vessel tracking systems 3
Vessel lists and registers 3.1
Figure 13 — LINK TO EU FLEET REGISTER VIA EFCA IMS
Figure 14 — EU FLEET REGISTER HOME PAGE
3.1 Vessel lists and registers
Figure 15 — EXAMPLE OF VESSEL SEARCH IN EU FLEET REGISTER
Maritime boundaries and other areas 3.2
3.2 MARITIME BOUNDARIES AND OTHER AREAS
3.2.1 Territorial Waters/Seas
Territorial waters are that part of the ocean adjacent to the coast of a state that is con-
sidered part of the territory of that state and subject to its sovereignty. As defined by
the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) they are coastal
waters extending at most 12 nautical miles from the baseline of a coastal state. Territorial
waters are regarded as the sovereign territory of the coastal state, although foreign ships
(civilian) are allowed innocent passage (10) through it, or transit passage for straits. This
sovereignty also extends to the airspace over and seabed below.
However, some costal states have declared territorial waters with an extension less than
12 nautical miles from the baseline or, in the case of sea between States with opposite
or adjacent coasts, the limit of territorial water is the midline equidistant from the nearest
points on the baseline between the two States. In some instances, there are special
fishing rights in the waters between the Territorial Waters/Seas of MS’s (11)
3.2.2 Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ)
EEZ is also legally based on the UNCLOS. It is the coastal water and seabed around a
country’s shores, to which a state claims exclusive rights for fishing and natural resources.
EEZs extend 200 nautical miles from the baseline. Within this area, the coastal state
has sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring, exploiting, conserving, and managing
natural resources, both living and non-living, of the seabed, subsoil, and the subjacent
waters and, with regard to other activities, for the economic exploitation and exploration
of the zone. Foreign nations have the freedom of navigation and overflight, subject to the
regulation of the coastal states. Foreign states may also lay submarine pipes and cables.
Rights related to the EEZ only exist if the coastal state has explicitly created it, while
respecting the law of the sea and the rights of other coastal states. Where the distance
between the baselines of two States are less than 400 miles, the boundary between their
EEZs shall be fixed by mutual agreement or by decision of a competent international
tribunal (e.g. International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea).
(10) As defined in Article 19

of UNCLOS (1982)
(11) Reference Part II Article

5.2
3.2 Maritime boundaries and other areas
Figure 16 — OVERVIEW OF DIFFERENT SEA AREAS/ZONES
Fisheries areas 3.3
3.3 FISHERIES AREAS

At international level, for fisheries management reasons, oceans and seas have been
divided into different areas. For Western Europe, the relevant bodies are the Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO), General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean
(GFCM) and the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES). They have
divided the seas in areas, subareas, divisions and in some instances, subdivisions and
statistical rectangles. The EU fisheries management is based on the ICES areas, while
RFMOs refer to FAO and GFCM areas. ICES areas correspond to FAO area 27 Atlantic
Northeast and FAO area 37 (see Fig. 17).
3.3 Fisheries areas
3.3.1 FAO Fishing Areas - Sub-Areas and Divisions
Subarea III Skagerrak, Kattegat, Sound, Division III a Skagerrak and Kattegat
Belt Sea, and Baltic Sea; the Sound and Division III b (23) Baltic Sea (Sound)
Belt together known also as the Transi- Division III b, c Baltic Sea (Sound and Belt
tion Area Sea or Transition Area)
Division III c (22) Baltic Sea (Belt Sea)
Division III d (24-32) Baltic Sea
Subarea IV North Sea Division IV a Northern North Sea
Division IV b Central North Sea
Division IV c Southern North Sea
Subarea V Iceland and Faroes Grounds Division V a Iceland Grounds
Division V b Faroes Grounds
Subarea VI Rockall, Northwest Coast Division VI a Northwest Coast of Scotland
of Scotland and North Ireland, the and North Ireland or West of Scotland
Northwest Coast of Scotland and North Division VI b Rockall
Ireland also known as the West of
Scotland
Subarea VII Irish Sea, West of Ireland, Division VII a Irish Sea
Porcupine Bank, Eastern and Western Division VII b West of Ireland
English Channel, Bristol Channel, Division VII c Porcupine Bank
Celtic Sea North and South, and South- Division VII d Eastern English Channel
west of Ireland - East and West Division VII e Western English Channel
Division VII f Bristol Channel
Division VII g Celtic Sea North
Division VII h Celtic Sea South
Division VII j South-West of Ireland - East
Division VII k South-West of Ireland - West
Subarea VIII Bay of Biscay Division VIII a Bay of Biscay - North
Division VIII b Bay of Biscay - Central
Division VIII c Bay of Biscay - South
Division VIII d Bay of Biscay - Offshore
Division VIII e West of Bay of Biscay
Subarea IX Portuguese Waters Division IX a Portuguese Waters - East
Division IX b Portuguese Waters - West
Subarea X Azores Grounds
Figure 17 — FAO FISHING AREA 27. SUB-AREAS AND DIVISIONS (SOURCE: FAO)
Fisheries areas 3.3
Figure 18 — STATISTICAL RECTANGLES IN THE BALTIC SEA

(SOURCE: DNK FMC)
3.3 Fisheries areas
3.3.2 GFCM Sub-Areas
1. Northern Alboran Sea 16. Southern Sicily
2. Alboran Island 17. Northern Adriatic
3. Southern Alboran Sea 18. Southern Adriatic Sea
4. Algeria 19. Western Ionian Sea
5. Balearic Island 20. Eastern Ionian Sea
6. Northern Spain 21. Southern Ionian Sea
7. Gulf of Lion 22. Aegean Sea
8. Corsica 23. Crete
9. Ligurian Sea and North Tyrrhenian Sea 24. Northern Levant Sea
10. Southern and Central Tyrrhenian Sea 25. Cyprus
11.1 Western Sardinia 26. Southern Levant Sea
11.2 Eastern Sardinia 27. Eastern Levant Sea
12. Northern Tunisia 28. Marmara Sea
13. Gulf of Hammamet 29. Black Sea
14. Gulf of Gabes 30. Azov Sea
15. Malta
Figure 19 — GFCM AREAS (SOURCE: FAO)
Restricted areas 3.4
3.4 RESTRICTED AREAS

A ‘Fishing Restricted Area’ (FRA) is any marine area under the jurisdiction of an EU MS,
which has been defined by the Council and where fishing activities are either limited or
banned (12). In these areas, fishing for certain species may be prohibited permanently
or temporally. Access to such areas may be subject to certain restrictions on the type
of gear, mesh size, vessel size or power, catch composition, entry messages, etc. (see
fig. 20, 21 and 22 below).
For the Atlantic, English Channel, North Sea and Baltic Sea, restricted areas and tech-
nical measures are associated (13). For the Mediterranean, the establishment of fishing
protected areas are foreseen (14), but have not yet been declared at EU level.
In addition to the FRAs permanently defined, any other areas may be subject to a real
time closure. The parameters for such real-time closures are set in Chapter IV, section 3 of
the Control Regulation. The decision for real time closures may be taken by the European
Commission or by the coastal MS e.g. because of immature specimen concentrations.
The decision specifies in particular the coordinates defining the boundaries of the area
and the start/end dates and times.
FMCs are required to have a system to detect and record the vessels’ entry into, transit
through and exit from the fishing restricted areas (15). In some cases, RFMOs can also
establish FRAs for some species and/or type of fishing vessels.
(12) Article 4.14 of Control

Regulation
Figure 20 — EXAMPLE OF FRA’s IN THE BALTIC SEA (SOURCE: EFCA) (13) Chapter IV of Council
Regulation (EC) No
850/98
(14) Chapter III of Council

Regulation (EC) No
1967/2006
(15) Article 50 of the Control

Regulation
3.4 Restricted areas
Figure 21 — EXAMPLE OF FRA’s IN THE NORTH SEA (PLAICE BOX) (SOURCE: EFCA)
Figure 22 — EXAMPLE OF FRA’s IN THE IRISH SEA AND CHANNEL (IRISH BOX/MACKEREL
BOX) (SOURCE: EFCA)
Restricted areas 3.4
It is the case of the Strait of Sicily, the GFCM has established some FRAs. GFCM
Recommendation 4/2016/3 established three FRAs; one to the east of Adventure Bank, a
second west of Gela Basin and a third east of Malta bank –the first two are partially inside
Italian Territorial waters. These areas are also temporary closure areas for the fishing
activity targeting Rose Shrimp and Mediterranean Hake in the Gulf of Gabes, which are
also linked with the 200 meters’ depth contours, and run from 15 July to 30 September.
Figure 23 — FRA’S IN STRAITS OF SICILY (SOURCE: OCEANA)
FRAs have also been established by the GFCM Recommendation 4/2017/3 in the Adriatic
Sea for the management of fisheries activity in the Pomo Pit area where several zones
have been set-up with different provisions for the fishing activities targeting demersal
stocks such as European Hake and Norway lobster. In addition, for fishing vessels of 12
metres’ length overall or more, the frequency of data transmissions shall be of at least once
every 30 minutes when a fishing vessel enters a fishing restricted area, and vessels not
authorised to fish in such areas shall keep a speed of minimum 6 knots when transiting.
3.5 Other sources of information that may be available to FMCs
3.5 OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION THAT

MAY BE AVAILABLE TO FMCS
3.5.1 Electronic Recording and Reporting System (ERS) Information
The ERS is used to record, report, process, store and exchange fisheries data (catch,
landing, sales, and transhipment) (16). The key element is the electronic logbook where the
master of a fishing vessel keeps a record of fishing operations. The electronic logbook
data is transmitted at least once a day and before entering port to the fisheries authori-
ties of the MSs, which stores the information in a secure database. It may also include
prior notifications of entry into port, landing or transhipment. This data allows the control
authorities to monitor the catch data of fishing vessels in near real-time.
ERS data is exchanged via secured channels (e.g. FLUX) with other MSs’ FMCs and with
third countries or RFMOs in the framework of bilateral / international agreements third
countries and international organisations, e.g. NAFO and NEAFC.
The ERS data is very similar to that required for entry into the paper-fishing logbook (17),
and includes information on the quantities of species caught each day as well as the
relevant geographical area in which they were taken. It also includes information on gear
type used, each entry/exit event, landing declarations, transhipments, etc.
Figure 24 — ERS SCREENSHOT OF A FISHING TRIP INFORMATION (SOURCE: EFCA)
(16) Articles 15, 21 and

24 of the Control
Regulation and Chapter
The ERS data contains a considerable amount of positional data ranging from where
II of the Commission the fish was caught (by reference to a “Statistical Rectangle” – covers a large area
Implementing
Regulation (EU) No and is therefore less precise for crosschecking purposes), to a geographical position
404/2011 where the vessel entered/exited into/from a particular area. When deploying static fishing
Regulation
Other sources of information that may be available to FMCs 3.5
gear, a more precise location (i.e. Latitude/Longitude) is required than just the Statistical
Rectangle.
3.5.2 Sighting Information
Within EU legislation, a sighting is generally regarded as any observation of a fishing

vessel by any competent authority of a MS (18). Sightings of fishing vessels by surveillance
crafts (patrol vessel or aircraft or RPAs) are required to be reported to the fisheries authori-
ties following guidelines as provided by the EU legislation (19). A sighting report normally
includes as a minimum, the date and time of the sighting, as well as the geographical
position (Latitude/Longitude) for a vessel at sea or the name of the port in which the
vessel is located. Very often, the report comes with a photograph of the vessel.
If the sighting or detection does not correspond to other information available to the MS,
it shall undertake any investigations that may be necessary to determine the appropriate
follow-up (20). The sighting information is used for crosschecking with other information
available to identify possible inconsistencies. Some RFMOs have also adopted the use
of sighting as exchange of information for their Contracting Parties. For example, the
GFCM set the information that must be reported in the sighting form by the assets of
CPCs during their patrolling activity (21).
Article 71 of the Control Regulation

Sightings at sea and detection by Member States
1. Member States shall carry out surveillance in Union waters under their sovereignty
or jurisdiction based on:
(a) sightings of fishing vessels by inspection vessels or surveillance aircrafts;
(b) a vessel monitoring system as referred to in Article 9; or
(c) any other detection and identification methods.
2. If the sighting or detection does not correspond to other information available to
the Member State, it shall undertake any investigations that may be necessary to
determine the appropriate follow-up.
3. If the sighting or detection refers to a fishing vessel of another Member State or a
third country and the information does not correspond to any other information that
is available to the coastal Member State and if that coastal Member State is not in a
position to undertake further action, it shall record its findings in a surveillance report
and shall transmit that report without delay, if possible by electronic means, to the flag
Member State or to the third country concerned. In case of a third country vessel, the
surveillance report shall also be sent to the Commission or the body designated by it.
4. In the event that an official of a Member State sights or detects a fishing vessel
engaged in activities that may be considered to be an infringement of the rules of
the common fisheries policy, he shall without delay issue a surveillance report and
send it to his competent authorities.
(18) Article 4(5) of the
[…] Control Regulation
(19) Annex XXIII of

the Commission
Implementing
Regulation (EU) No
404/2011.

Control Regulation
(21) Recommendation.
GFCM41/2017/8
3.5 Other sources of information that may be available to FMCs
Article 92 of Commission implementing Regulation No404/2011

Information to be recorded in the surveillance report
1. The surveillance reports referred to in Article 71(3) and (4) of the Control Regulation
shall be established in accordance with Annex XXIII
to this Regulation.
2. Member States shall upload the data contained in their surveillance reports into
the electronic database referred to in Article 78 of the Control Regulation and provide
for the functionalities referred to in Annex XXIV No 2 to this Regulation. The minimum
information recorded in this database shall be that indicated in Annex XXIII. Paper
surveillance reports may also additionally be scanned into the database.
3. The data from the reports shall be kept available in the database for at least 3 years.
4. Upon receipt of a surveillance report as referred to in paragraph 1 the flag Member
State shall, as soon as possible, initiate an investigation on the activities of its fishing
vessels to which the surveillance report refers.
5. Paragraph 1 shall apply without prejudice to the rules adopted by Regional Fisheries
Management Organisations to which the European Union is a contracting party.
3.5.3 Inspection and Infringement Records
MSs are required to establish, and keep up to date, an electronic database where they
upload all inspection and surveillance reports recorded by their officials (22) in accordance
with the EU legislation (23). MSs control authorities also receive inspection reports issued
by other MS officials on board their flag fishing vessels, when an infringement has been
found in the course of the inspection (24).
Data and information contained in the inspection reports are crosschecked with other
available data and information available from other sources in order to identify any
possible inconsistencies. Concerning infringements, MSs are required by the Control
Regulation to enter in a national register, all infringements of the rules of the common
fisheries policy committed by vessels flying their flag or by their nationals, including the
sanctions they incurred and the number of points assigned (25).
3.5.4 Fishing Opportunities/Quota Uptake
Total allowable catches (TACs) and quotas are a major tool in fisheries management.
TACs or fishing opportunities are catch limits (expressed in tonnes or numbers) that are
set for most commercial fish stocks. The European Commission prepares the proposals,
based on scientific advice on the stock status from advisory bodies such as ICES and
STECF. The Council of fisheries ministers sets TACs annually for most stocks (every two
years for deep-sea stocks). For stocks that are shared and jointly managed with non-EU
(22) Article 78.1 of Control
Regulation countries, the TACs are agreed with those (groups of) non-EU countries.
(23) Article 118 and TACs are shared between EU MSs in the form of national quotas. For each stock, a dif-
annex XXIV No2
of the Commission ferent allocation percentage per MS is applied. This fixed percentage is known as the
Implementing relative stability key. MS can exchange quotas between themselves. However, MS have
Regulation (EU) No
404/2011. to use transparent and objective criteria when they distribute the national quota among
(24) Article 76 of the Control their fishermen. They are responsible for ensuring that the quotas are not overfished.
Regulation When all the available quota of a species is fished, the MS has to close the fishery.
Regulation
Other sources of information that may be available to FMCs 3.5
Management of quotas at national level is different between different MSs. For example, in
some MSs, the quota is split between vessels with each getting an individual vessel quota.
Other MSs split the quota between different Producers’ Organisations. Consequently,
follow up of quotas and the closure decision process varies from one MS to another. This
type of information can be very useful when monitoring other elements, such as fishing
area, gear type, catch declarations of a specific vessel, other vessels catch declara-
tions, landing declarations, etc. Catch compositions of similar vessels, operating with
the same gear type, in the same area should be quite similar, and cross checks of data
from different declarations may highlight incoherencies.
4 Fishing vessel activity - vessel tracking systems
4.1 Identify fishing vessels’ activities during a fishing trip
4 FISHING VESSEL ACTIVITY - VESSEL

TRACKING SYSTEMS
4.1 IDENTIFY FISHING VESSELS’ ACTIVITIES

DURING A FISHING TRIP
4.1.1 Fishing Activity
In the EU legal framework, the terms “fishing activity” covers not only the catching opera-
tion itself but also related operations: “fishing activity means searching for fish, shoot-
ing, setting, towing, and hauling of a fishing gear, taking catch on board, transhipping,
retaining on board, processing on board, transferring, caging, fattening and landing of
fish and fisheries products” (26).
4.1.2 Searching for fish
This activity is carried out mainly by vessels targeting schools of pelagic fish such as
tuna, sardine, mackerel, horse mackerel and anchovy, for example, and mainly by purse
seiners, pelagic trawlers and bait boats. While searching for fish, the vessel is proceeding
at top or near top speed and its track may be quite erratic.
4.1.3 Transit/Return to port
During transit to fishing grounds and return to port, fishing vessels are usually proceeding
at top speed and maintaining a steady course.
(26) Article 4.1 of the Control Figure 25 — EXAMPLE OF SEARCHING FOR FISH, FISHING OPERATION AND TRANSIT OF
Regulation PURSE SEINER (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
Fishing vessel activity - vessel tracking systems 4
Transhipment 4.2
4.2 TRANSHIPMENT
‘Transhipment’ is the unloading of all or any fisheries or aquaculture products on board
a vessel to another vessel. Transhipments at sea can go unnoticed by control authori-
ties of the flag or coastal states and therefore constitute a possible way for operators
to ‘mask’ illegal fishing and/or catches. Transhipment in EU waters is forbidden unless
it is carried out in designated ports (27). Transhipments by EU vessels on the high seas
and under direct authorisations are subject to prior notification (28), direct authorisation
referring to an authorisation given by a third country to an EU vessel to operate in its
waters, outside an Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement (SFPA). In addition,
transhipments at sea, when occurring in the convention area of an RFMO, must adhere
to the rules applicable for that RFMO.
For example, transhipments at sea in the ICCAT convention area are authorised for large-
scale pelagic longliners, following the requirements of the applicable Recommendation (29).
In cases of transhipment, the tracks of vessels involved in the operation, may show the
positions of the vessels very close to each other, and/or following a similar course at a
similar reduced speed (around 1 knot).
The following figure 26 shows movements of a receiving carrier vessel in the Atlantic,
steaming full speed from a transhipment point to another, reducing speed to around one
knot to possibly carry out the transhipment. The figure 27 shows the same vessel at the
time of the transhipment accompanied by the transhipping long liner following a similar
course at the same speed. Both vessels were registered in the ICCAT record of vessels,
which is publicly available on the ICCAT website.
Figure 26 — POSSIBLE TRANSHIPMENT IN SOUTH ATLANTIC - IMAGE 1 (SOURCE: EFCA (27) Article 20 of the Control
IMS) Regulation

(EU) 2017/2403 of the
European Parliament
and of the Council
(29) Currently ICCAT

Recommendation 2016-
15
4.2 Transhipment
Figure 27 — POSSIBLE TRANSHIPMENT IN SOUTH ATLANTIC - IMAGE 2 (SOURCE: EFCA

IMS)
Figure 28 — POSSIBLE TRANSHIPMENT ON HIGH SEAS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
Fishing vessel activity - vessel tracking systems 4
Transferring/caging 4.3
4.3 TRANSFERRING/CAGING
Transferring and caging activities (30) refer to activities of transfer of live fish into cages
and into farm installations. They are not considered as transhipment and they are mainly
related to the Bluefin Tuna (BFT) fishery in the Mediterranean Sea. The fish is normally
caught by purse seiners and transferred, live, into cages in open sea (transferring), and is
later transferred into cages at the farm installation (caging) in order to be fattened. These
operations involve several vessels in addition to the purse seiner making the catch opera-
tion: auxiliary vessels, support vessels and towing vessels, all of them being considered
as fishing vessels according to the Control Regulation (31) and therefore subject to VMS
and AIS according to their length.
Purse seine track during transfer operation often shows the vessel idle and drifting,
sometimes for hours, with auxiliary vessels, support vessels and towing vessels in close
proximity. In addition, on some occasions, there may also be other purse seiners involved
in the same joint fishing operation. During the caging operation, apart from the track
of the towing vessel proceeding with the cage(s) to the farm installation at slow speed,
there are no real tracks of interest to be observed. When the cage is delivered in the
farm site, the towing vessel normally moves away from the farm installation and will not
participate to the caging operation.
Tracks of support vessels can be observed on the farm site but it is difficult to relate their
presence to the caging operation, as they are usually present on the farm site for daily
operations like feeding, maintenance or harvesting.
Figure 29 — BFT PS SEARCHING FOR A SCHOOL OF TUNA

(AVERAGE SPEED 8-10 KNOTS) (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
(30) Article 4.1 of the Control

Regulation

Control Regulation
4.3 Transferring/caging
Figure 30 — BFT PS FISHING OPERATION AND TRANSFER, ALSO TOWING VESSEL

(SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
Figure 31 — TOWING VESSEL TRACK DURING BFT PS CAMPAIGN (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
Also, note the last part of the track shows the Towing Vessels passage to the farm site
(located at the bottom left in picture) with full cages and transiting at a speed of approx.
1 knot.
Fishing vessel gear type – vessel tracking systems 5
Towed gears 5.1
5 FISHING VESSEL GEAR TYPE –

VESSEL TRACKING SYSTEMS
5.1 TOWED GEARS
5.1.1 General
Towed gears, also known as active gears or mobile gears, are typified by trawls, but
also include dredges. There is a variety of types of towed trawl gears in use and these
vary greatly in size and design, dependent upon the topography of the seabed, the size/
power of the towing vessel, the depth of fishing and the habits of the target species.
The main towed gears used in fisheries are bottom otter trawls, bottom pair trawls, beam
trawls, pelagic or midwater otter trawls, pelagic or midwater pair trawls, Danish seines,
Scottish fly seines, and dredges. From the tracks of the vessels using these gears, it
may be difficult to distinguish the type of gear used as they have similar fishing patterns.
Their tracks may be very similar as the towing speeds, with the exception of beam trawl-
ers, which usually tow at a slightly higher speed (5 to 6 knots) than the other gear types.
5.1.2 Bottom Otter Trawl (OTB)
A bottom or demersal trawl is constructed like a cone-shaped net that is towed on the
bottom. It consists of a body ending in a codend, which retains the catch. Normally the
net has two lateral wings extending forward from the opening. The mouth of the trawl is
framed by a headline and a groundrope. The vertical opening is maintained by the floats,
which are fixed on the headline, while the horizontal opening is maintained by means of
otter doors. The gear is designed and rigged to catch species living on or near the bottom.
Bottom otter trawls are usually towed across the bottom at a speed of approx. 2 to 4
knots. The duration of a tow normally depends on the expected density and type of fish
(whether fish is aggregated or not) and the shape of the bottom (seabed) in the fishing
area, and can vary from a few (10-15 minutes) up to 10-12 hours. However, the duration
is usually around 2 to 5 hours.
5 Fishing vessel gear type – vessel tracking systems
5.1 Towed gears
Figure 32 — BOTTOM OTTER TRAWL (SOURCE: FAO)
Figure 33 — BOTTOM TRAWLER TRACK – EX. 1 (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
Towed gears 5.1
Figure 34 — BOTTOM TRAWLER TRANSITING THROUGH A RESTRICTED AREA (IN BLUE) –

EX. 2 (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
Figure 35 — BOTTOM TRAWLER TRACK (SOURCE: Denmark FMC) (1st Zoom & 2nd Zoom)
5.1 Towed gears
5.1.3 Bottom Pair Trawls (PTB)
In this case, the trawl is not towed by one vessel but by two vessels simultaneously. The
trawl is similar to the bottom otter trawl except that the horizontal opening is not made
by doors but by the spacing of the two towing vessels. Hauling and shooting of the trawl
is performed by one of the two vessels, and for towing one of the two towing cables is
handed over to the second vessel. During the towing, the tracks of the vessels are parallel
with similar speeds and courses.
Figure 36 — BOTTOM PAIR TRAWLER TRACKS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
5.1.4 Beam Trawlers (TBB)
Beam trawlers usually tow at a speed of approx. 2.5 to 7 knots. A beam trawl consists
of a cone-shaped body ending in a bag or codend, which retains the catch. In these
trawls, the beam and beam heads form a rigid framework that keeps the trawl open and
supports the net. Beam trawls are commonly designed without wings. When targeting
flatfish, the beam trawls are usually towed at approx. 4 to 7 knots. However, if targeting
shrimp, the towing speed is normally between 2.5 and 3 knots.
Towed gears 5.1
Figure 37 — BEAM TRAWL (SOURCE: FAO)
Figure 38 — BEAM TRAWLER – fig. 1 (WITH ZOOM) (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
5.1 Towed gears
Figure 39 — BEAM TRAWLER FISHING ACTIVITY IN THE NORTH SEA – FIG. 2

(SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
5.1.5 Midwater Otter Trawl (OTM)
A Midwater Trawl (often known as a Pelagic Trawl) consists of a cone shaped body, nor-
mally made of four panels, ending in a codend with lateral wings extending forward from
the opening. It is usually much larger than a bottom trawl that has been designed and
rigged to fish in midwater, including in the surface water. The front parts are sometimes
made with very large meshes or ropes, which herd the targeted fish inwards so that they
can be overtaken by smaller meshes in the aft trawl sections. Otter boards maintain the
horizontal opening. Floats on the headline and weights on the groundline often maintain
the vertical opening. Modern large midwater trawls, however, are rigged in such a way
that floats are not required, relying on downward forces from weights to keep the vertical
opening during fishing. The towing speed is usually 3 to 4 knots.
Figure 40 — MIDWATER OTTER TRAWL (SOURCE: FAO and DNK FMC)
5.1.6 Midwater Pair Trawl (PTM)
A Midwater Pair Trawl (often known as a Pelagic Pair Trawl) is operated by two vessels
towing in parallel, usually at a speed of approx. 3 to 5 knots. For smaller species such
as sprat, towing speed is normally 1-2 knots. No otter boards are required to maintain
Towed gears 5.1
the horizontal opening. Usually the setting and hauling of the trawl alternates between
the two vessels. During the towing operation, the tracks of the vessels are parallel with
similar courses and speeds. (see fig. 41 and 42) and they are usually transiting together
to and from the fishing grounds.
Figure 41 — MIDWATER PAIR TRAWLER (SOURCE: FAO)
Figure 42 — PELAGIC PAIR TRAWLER TRACKS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
5.1.7 Bottom Seiners
Bottom seines are conical nets with a cod end and two long wings. One long bridle (wire/
rope wrap) extends from each wing. The bridles and net are then deployed in a diamond
shape in order to surround a large area or a school of fish. This type of gear includes
the Scottish fly seine (SSC) and the Danish seine (SDN) which are very similar gears.
5.1 Towed gears
For the deployment of the gear, the first bridle end is attached to a marker buoy or to an
anchored buoy and the bridle is shot. The deployment of the bridle itself is done at top
or near top speed, and the speed is then reduced to deploy the net body itself. Once
deployed the vessel increases speed again for the second bridle shooting. The fishing
vessel tracks in a big circle returning to the buoy, which is recovered to start the hauling.
The two bridles are hauled while the fishing vessel is dragging the whole net at low speed
(1 / 2 knots) until the cod end can be secured. With good AIS coverage, it is sometimes
possible to identify each fishing operation from the track of the vessel (see fig. 45).
Figure 43 — FLY-SEINE FISHING OPERATION (SOURCE: FAO)
Figure 44 — DANISH SEINE FISHING OPERATION TRACK (SOURCE: EFCA IMS -VMS/AIS)
Towed gears 5.1
FISHING OPERATION 3
FISHING OPERATION 1
Steaming to
another operation
HAULING
FISHING OPERATION 2
FISHING OPERATION 4
Figure 45 — DANISH SEINE FISHING PATTERN WITH SEVERAL FISHING OPERATIONS

(CIRCULAR MOVEMENTS) (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
Figure 46 — SCOTTISH SEINE WITH FISHING OPERATION (WITH ZOOM)

(SOURCE: DNK FMC)
5.1.8 Dredges (DRB)
This type of gear is dragged over the bottom (seabed) to target molluscs or shellfish.
Dredges consist of a mouth frame to which a holding bag constructed of metal rings or
meshes is attached. They are usually towed at a speed of 3 to 4 knots.
5.1 Towed gears
Figure 47 — EXAMPLES OF DREDGES (SOURCE: FAO)
Figure 48 — DREDGER TRACKS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
Passive fishing gears 5.2
5.2 PASSIVE FISHING GEARS
5.2.1 Gillnets (GN)
Within the Gillnet and Entangling Net group (GN), we have a number of different types:
Set Gillnets (Anchored) – GNS, Driftnets – GND, Encircling Gillnets – GNC, Trammel
Nets – GTR, and Combined Gillnets Trammel Nets – GTN. Gillnets are strings of single
netting walls, vertical on the bottom, in which fish will gill or entangle. Trammel nets are
composed of triple netting mounted together on the same frame ropes. These nets may
have floats on the upper line (headrope) and, in general, weights on the ground-line
(footrope). The gear is set anchored to the bottom.
These nets may also be left drifting near the surface or in midwater (GND), held near
the water surface or at a depth below it by floating devices and left drifting with the cur-
rent and the wind, either independently or attached to a boat. It may be equipped with
devices to stabilise the net or to limit its drift such as a sea anchor or an anchor on the
bottom attached to one end of the net. Tracks of vessels operating such driftnets are
very similar to vessels operating drifting long lines.
Figure 49 — BOTTOM SETTT GILLNET (SOURCE: FAO)
Figure 50 — TRAMMEL NET (SOURCE: FAO)
5.2 Passive fishing gears
Figure 51 — TRACK OF NETTER OPERATING SEVERAL SETS OF NETS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
Figure 52 — NETTER TRACK (POSSIBLY OVER WRECK) WITH ZOOM (SOURCE: DNK FMC)
5.2.2 Set Longlines (LLS) - (Bottom Long Lines)
A set longline consists of a mainline and snoods with baited hooks at regular intervals and
which is set, in general, on or near the bottom. The number of hooks, distance of snoods
on the main line and length of the snoods depends on the target species, the handling
capacity and technology used. Length of bottom longlines can range from few hundred
meters in coastal fisheries to more than 50 km in large-scale mechanized fisheries.
Shooting and hauling speeds are usually lower than other set gears, but depend on the
equipment and mechanization. In the following example in figure 54, the speed varies
from 0.5 to 1.5 knots during fishing operations.
Figure 53 — BOTTOM LONG LINE (SOURCE: FAO)
Figure 54 — TRACK OF BOTTOM LONG LINER WITH ZOOM (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
5.2.3 Drifting Long Lines (LLD)
A drifting long line consists of a mainline kept near the surface or at a certain depth
by means of regularly spaced floats and with relatively long snoods with baited hooks,
evenly spaced on the mainline. Drifting long lines may be of considerable length, e.g.
over one hundred kilometres. They are used to target pelagic species and mainly highly
migratory species such as salmon.
Figure 55 — DRIFTING LONG LINE (SOURCE: FAO)
In open sea, the line may be shot in one row, but normally when the fishing area is more
limited, the line may be in several rows in parallel. Except on small fishing vessels where
the shooting and hauling operations may not be mechanised, the vessel shoots the line
at top, or near top speed. Radio buoys may be used for locating the line at the start of
the haul or in the event of a broken line. Usually, the line is shot towards late afternoon or
early evening, and is recovered the next morning. Depending on the wind and currents,
the line may drift a long distance during the fishing operation.
Figure 56 — DRIFTING LONG LINER TRACK (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
Figure 57 — DRIFITING LONGLINER FISHING OPERATION (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
5.2.4 Pots (FPO)
A pot is designed in the form of a cage or basket made from various materials (wood,
wicker, metal rods, wire netting, plastic etc.). Pots are used with or without bait, depending
on the target species. The bait is usually composed of pieces of fish, but also common
is the use of artificial flavoured baits. The pots are set on the bottom, individually for the
small crafts, while the bigger vessels set them in rows attached on a mainline. The shoot-
ing of the pots normally takes place at top speed, but the hauling operation is normally
at approx. 2 to 4 knots. They may be deployed for 1-3 days.
Figure 58 — POTS (SOURCE: FAO)
Figure 59 — POTTER TRACK - 2 DAYS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
Purse seiners 5.3
5.3 PURSE SEINERS
5.3.1 General
A purse seine (PS) is an encircling net for capturing fish species, which shoal, or ag-
gregate, in mid-water or close to the surface, such as sardines, mackerel, anchovies,
herring, dolphin fish and tuna. It consists of a large wall of netting deployed around
an entire area or shoal of fish having floats along the top line and a lead line threaded
through rings along the bottom of the net.
Once a shoal of fish is located, the vessel encircles the shoal at the maximum speed,
sometimes using a skiff. The lead line is then pulled, closing the net on the bottom line
and preventing fish from “sounding” and escaping by swimming downward.
Figure 60 — PURSE SEINE (SOURCE: FAO)
In this type of fishery, searching represents a large part of the fishing activity. Searching
is traditionally visual/radar detecting presence of birds and sea mammals indicating fish
shoals, but also by the use of electronic means, sonar and echo sounder detecting the
shoal itself under water.
Purse seine fishing may be used in relation with fish aggregating devices (FADs). A FAD
is a floating object used to attract pelagic fish such as tuna and dolphin fish but also
many other species. FADs usually consist of floating materials including buoys or floats
tethered together, and may be moored to the seabed or left adrift in open sea. FADs used
by oceanic purse seiners include echo sounder and GPS capabilities so that the fishing
vessel can remotely contact it via satellite to localise it and to estimate the quantity of
fish aggregated under the FAD. The use of FADs may be regulated, as it is the case by
ICCAT where the number of FADs by vessel is limited to a maximum number.
During the fishing trip of purse seiners, they can be observed proceeding at medium/
top speed, having sometimes erratic tracks. When a fishing operation occurs, the fishing
vessel will be observed drifting for a while (up to a few hours), depending on the catch,
the time to take the fish on board and recovering the whole net.
5.3 Purse seiners
Figure 61 — PURSE SEINE TRACK WITH 3 FISHING OPERATIONS (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
SEARCHING
HAULING
Figure 62 — PURSE SEINE FISHING ACTIVITY (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
Purse seiners 5.3
Figure 63 — PURSE SEINE TRACK, TRANSIT AND FISHING OPERATION WITH ZOOM
(SOURCE: DNK FMC)
5.3.2 Bluefin Tuna (BFT) Purse Seiner in the Mediterranean Sea
In the Mediterranean Sea, the BFT caught by PSs is kept alive and transferred to farms
for fattening. It is first transferred live from the net into cages, and then towed to the farms
where a new transfer is done into the farm installation. These transfer operations involve
assistance from support vessels and auxiliary vessels at sea. After a transfer, the towing
vessel may remain on the fishing grounds waiting for a complementing transfer in its
cage(s), or transfer the cage to another towing vessel.
Up to the catching operation itself, the track of a BFT PS will be similar to any PS track, but
the duration of the whole operation, including the transfer into cage, will be much longer
and will involve several vessels. All the vessels involved in the operation considered as
fishing vessels (32), and shall be equipped with VMS and AIS, according to their length.
ICCAT Recommendations on BFT foresee similar dispositions (33).

Control Regulation
(33) Articles 2a)

and 87 if ICCAT
Recommendation 17-07
5.3 Purse seiners
Figure 64 — BFT PS FISHING OPERATION AND TRANSFER (2 X FISHING VESSELS)

(SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
Figure 65 — TOWING VESSEL 1 (YELLOW), TOWING VESSEL 2 (GREEN) (SOURCE: EFCA

IMS)
Conformity of fishing vessel activity 6
Check conformity with spatial and temporal restrictions 6.1
6 CONFORMITY OF FISHING VESSEL

ACTIVITY
6.1 CHECK CONFORMITY WITH SPATIAL AND

TEMPORAL RESTRICTIONS
6.1.1 Fishing Restricted Areas Established by EU Council (34)
The activity of vessels detected inside restricted areas, and in particular their course
and speed, should be checked to determine whether they are just transiting or if their
behaviour/pattern could indicate fishing activity. The restriction in the area may be de-
pendent on the type of fishing gear in use, so it is important to establish what type of
gear has been declared.
The frequency of data transmissions shall be of at least once every 30 minutes when
a fishing vessel enters a restricted area (35). Transit through a fishing restricted area is
permitted for all fishing vessels that are not authorised to fish in such areas, but they
must keep a speed of a minimum 6 knots except in case of force majeure or adverse
condition (36). These requirements apply only to fishing vessels of 12 metres’ length overall
or more (37).
6.1.2 Other Fishing Restricted Areas
MSs may establish fishing restricted areas based on criteria such as gear type, target
species or seasons for example. It must be noted that this type of restriction applies to
the fishing vessels of the MS, which decided the restriction, but not to the other MSs
fishing vessels, including inside the EEZ of that MS outside its territorial waters.
The following case concerns a permanent prohibition made to beam trawlers of more
than 300 Hp to operate within the NLD 12 miles. Following figures 66 and 67 show the
tracks of two vessels detected at a towing speed inside the 12-mile limit, despite the
power of their engine being 2000 Hp.

Regulation. See for
example Regulation
(EU) No 1343/2011 on
certain provisions for
fishing in the GFCM
area

Control Regulation

Control Regulation

Control Regulation
6 Conformity of fishing vessel activity
6.1 Check conformity with spatial and temporal restrictions
Figure 66 — TRAWLER OPERATING IN PROHIBITED AREA (WITH ZOOM) (SOURCE: NLD FMC)
Figure 67 — TRAWLER OPERATING IN PROHIBITED AREA (SOURCE: NLD FMC)
A second case concerns the daily fishing trip of a vessel fishing for scallops, when the
vessel operated exclusively in an area where fishing for scallops is prohibited (fig. 68
and 69).
Figure 68 — VMS TRACK OF DREDGER OPERATING IN PROHIBITED AREA

(SOURCE: FRA FMC)
Figure 69 — VMS DATA FOR DREDGER OPERATING IN PROHIBITED AREA

(SOURCE: FRA FMC)
A third case (fig. 70) concerning a trawler entering the 3-mile limit at a towing speed,
where trawling is prohibited within this limit.
Figure 70 — VMS TRACK OF TRAWLER AT TOWING SPEED INSIDE 3-MILES’ LIMIT

(SOURCE: FRA FMC)
6.1.3 Closed Fishing Seasons
Closed fishing season means the prohibition of catching, retaining on board and landing
of a particular species during a defined period. This prohibition may concern all types of
fishing gear, but may apply only to certain fishing gear types or vessels. In addition, for
the same gear type, the closed fishing season may be different depending on the area.
For example, in the BFT fishery, the closed fishing seasons are linked to the fishing gear
type (and as well possibly the area) while in the swordfish fishery in the Mediterranean
Sea, the closed fishing seasons apply to any type of gear.
Attention must be paid to all these criteria when there is a suspicion of possible non-
compliance to the closed fishing season rules, based on tracking information. The risk
of non-compliance is mainly related to vessels that use the same type of gear to target
other species during the closed fishing season. Such vessels become priority targets in
the framework of control during sea inspections or landing inspections.
6.1.4 Real Time Closures
As already mentioned, specific areas may be subject to a real time closure (RTC) as
defined by the Control Regulation (38). The decision of RTC may be taken by the European
Commission or by the coastal MS e.g. immature specimen concentrations. RTC may
specify the duration, the area and the gear types.
Specific attention must be paid to vessels detected inside RTC areas, in particular to
their speed and track to evaluate if they are simply on transit or if they have the behaviour
of a vessel engaged in fishing operations. This has to be seen in relation to the type of
gear operated by the vessels subject to this review as the RTC may concern only certain
(38) Chapter IV, section 3 of
the Control Regulation. types of fishing gear.
The following example relates to a trawler operating in the North Sea. The master turned
off the power for about 24h in order to prevent the VMS from transmitting its positions.
When the power was restored, the FMC recovered all missing positions from the memory
of the VMS device and after analysing the data, concluded that the fishing vessel be-
haviour was consistent with fishing operations in a Real Time Closure area (RTC_483).
Trawling operations were affected by this particular RTC. See below a table (fig. 71)
showing VMS data of the vessel and in particular the two lines in red showing when the
power was turned off (PWRDN) and later restored (PWRUP). The following images show
the track of the vessel.
Figure 71 — VMS REPORT (WITHOUT RECOVERED DATA) (SOURCE: NLD FMC)
Figure 72 — TRACK OF TRAWLER FISHING TRIP (WITH RECOVERED DATA)

(SOURCE: NLD FMC)
Figure 73 — TRACK OF TRAWLER AT TOWING SPEED (WITH RECOVERED DATA)

(SOURCE: NLD FMC)
6.1.5 Maritime Areas with Specific Rules on Access to Waters and

Resources
FMCs shall monitor speed, catch on board, date and time of entry into and exit from
an area, where specific rules on access to waters and resources apply (39) (see fig. 74).
Certain species in some areas are subject to specific conditions (40). These fisheries/areas
have their own requirements and restrictions, and must be considered when monitoring
vessels entry/exit.
(39) Article 23 of the

Commission
Implementing
Regulation (EU) No
404/2011
(40) Articles 20 to 29 of
Council Regulation (EC)
No 850/98
Figure 74 — EXAMPLE OF OPEN/CLOSED FISHING SEASON AND AREAS FOR

SCALLOPS (SOURCE: FRA/DIRM)
6.1.6 Regulatory Areas Regional Fisheries Management

Organisations (RFMOs)
An EU fishing vessel fishing for stocks under the auspices of an RFMO, in or outside EU
waters, is subject to a fishing authorisation in accordance to those RFMO requirements.
In particular, the vessel must be included in the relevant register or list of authorised
vessels of the RFMO concerned. These authorisations must be checked particularly the
period of validity of that authorisation.
For deeper analysis, the specific rules applying in the framework of the RFMO must be
known (e.g. moratorium on certain species, restrictions on sub areas, periodic closures
of certain sub areas, rules for accessing certain sub areas, etc.). Vessels operating in
RFMO areas may also be subject to requirements on entry/exit messages and catch
reports, as outlined above, and FMCs shall monitor date and time of entry/exit in the
regulatory areas of the RFMO to which the EU or certain MSs are a party (41). At EU level, Commission
Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 of the European Parliament and of the Council provides the Implementing
Regulation (EU) No
related requirements (42). 404/2011
(42) Title II, chapter III

of Regulation (EU)
6.1.7 Waters of Third Country 2017/2403 of the
European Parliament
and of the Council
EU fishing vessels may operate in the waters of a third country in the framework of a
(43) Chapter II, section
SFPA between the EU and that third country (43). In addition, they may operate under an 1 of Regulation (EU)
2017/2403 of the
agreement on exchange of fishing opportunities or joint management of fish stocks of European Parliament
common interest, or through private agreement between that third country and a fishing and of the Council
vessel operator (44). (44) Chapter II, section
2 of Regulation (EU)
In all these cases, the fishing vessel must be granted a fishing authorisation either by 2017/2403 of the
European Parliament
the European Commission or by its national authorities. The procedure for obtaining the and of the Council
necessary fishing authorisation differs according to each case. If the vessel has fishing
activities covered by the RFMO, the vessel must comply with that RFMO rules. A fishing
vessel may only carry out fishing operations in waters of a third country on stocks man-
aged by an RFMO, if that third country is a contracting party to that RFMO (50).
The main cross checks regarding this type of activities concerns the fishing authorisa-
tions, their period of validity and possible suspension, as well as entry/exit reports. It
should be noted that without prejudice to the requirement to obtain an authorisation from
the competent organisation or third country, an EU fishing vessel shall not carry out fish-
ing operations outside EU waters unless it has been authorised by its flag MS, and the
fishing operations are indicated in a valid fishing authorisation (47).
6.1.8 Designated Ports
Certain fisheries, e.g. deep-sea species (45), BFT (46), NEAFC fisheries (47)are subject to

the obligation of landing in designated ports and to prior notification of arrival in port. In
addition, vessels involved in such fisheries must be granted a fishing authorisation for
the related fishery. The same obligations can also apply to transhipments. At a minimum,
crosschecks should be carried out between the data in the pre-notification and the
logbook data and landing declarations. In order to identify possible illegal practises,
deeper checks are often carried out in the following circumstances:
a. An authorised vessel visits a non-designated port before/after landing in
designated port.
b. A vessel did not send a prior notification of arrival and landed in a non-designated
port.
c. A non-authorised vessel operating in the same area(s) as the authorised vessels,
and using similar fishing gear, and does not declare any catch/landing for species
subject to these obligations.
For landings and transhipments of frozen fish from the NEAFC area, these operations are
also subject to the confirmation of the legality of the catches by the catching vessel flag
authorities, and to the authorisation by the port authorities (48). In addition, for any third
country vessel landing or transhipping, it is possible only in a designated port and may
be subject to prior notification and authorisation (49). In the Mediterranean Sea, landings
and first sales have to be done in a designated port for vessels using certain types of
gear, but no pre-notification of entry or landing is foreseen (50).
6.1.9 Prior Notifications
The Control Regulation requires that masters of certain categories of fishing vessels
(45) Regulation (EU)
2016/2336 targeting specific fisheries subject to multiannual plans provide a prior notification of
(46) Regulation (EU) arrival in port when proceeding from a fishing trip.
2016/1627
The prior notification allows inspectors to plan their inspection activities in the most ef-
(47) Regulation (EU) No
1236/2010
fective way depending on the risk profile of the fishery.
(48) Article 25 of Regulation It is important to note that in most cases, the notification is of time of the vessel first arrives
(EU) No 1236/2010 in port and not the time the vessel is to start to land its catch. In this way, the inspector
(49) Articles 5, 6 and 7 of may be able to be present to observe the physical arrival of the vessel in port to avoid
No 1005/2008 the possibility of the vessel landing an unobserved catch.
(50) Article 22.1 of Council It should also be noted that certain categories of vessels may be exempted from the
Regulation (EC) No
1967/2006
requirement to make a prior notice of arrival in port (51).
Regulation

Prior notification
1. Masters of Union fishing vessels of 12 metres’ length overall or more engaged in
fisheries on stocks subject to a multiannual plan, which are under the obligation to
record fishing logbook data electronically in accordance with Article 15, shall notify the
competent authorities of their flag Member State at least four hours before the estimated
time of arrival at port of the following information:
(a) the external identification number and the name of the fishing vessel;
(b) the name of the port of destination and the purposes of the call, such as landing,
transhipment or access to services;
(c) the dates of the fishing trip and the relevant geographical areas in which the catches
were taken;
(d) the estimated date and time of arrival at port;
(e) the quantities of each species recorded in the fishing logbook, including those below
the applicable minimum conservation reference size, as a separate entry;
(f) the quantities of each species to be landed or trans-shipped, including those below
the applicable minimum conservation reference size, as a separate entry.
2. When a Union fishing vessel intends to enter a port in a Member State other than the
flag Member State, the competent authorities of the flag Member State shall immediately
upon receipt forward the electronic prior notification to the competent authorities of the
coastal Member State.
3. The competent authorities of the coastal Member State may give permission to an
earlier entry at port.
4. The electronic fishing logbook data referred to in Article 15 and the electronic prior
notification may be sent in a single electronic transmission.
5. The accuracy of the data recorded in the electronic prior notification shall be the
responsibility of the master.
6. The Commission, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 119, may
exempt certain categories of fishing vessels from the obligation set out in paragraph 1 for
a limited period, which may be renewed, or make provision for another notification period
taking into account, inter alia, the type of fisheries products, the distance between the
fishing grounds, landing places and ports where the vessels in question are registered.
6.1.10 Transhipments
Transhipment operations are regulated by different rules depending on the area where
the operation takes place and on the flag of the vessel. Transhipment in EU waters is
forbidden unless it is carried out in designated ports, or places close to the shore, and
they are subject to authorisation (52).
Transhipments by EU vessels on the high sea and under direct authorisations by the flag
MS authorities are subject to prior notification (53), as well as direct authorisation refer-
ring to the permission given by a third country to an EU vessel to operate in its waters
(excluding SFPA scenarios). In addition, transhipments on high sea have to follow the
rules of the related RFMO if applicable. (52) Article 20 of the Control
Regulation
In the ICCAT areas, transhipment at sea of species managed by ICCAT is forbidden un-
less for large-scale long liners in the framework of a Regional Observer Programme, and (EU) 2017/2403 of the
European Parliament
and of the Council
only to authorised carriers. In NEAFC area, a transhipment operation by an EU vessel

must receive a prior authorisation by the flag MS (54).
The donor vessel shall report on the quantities to be transhipped, no later than 24
hours before the transhipment, and the receiving vessel no later than 1 hour after the
transhipment. Transhipment of frozen products must be done in a designated port. In
NAFO area, similar rules apply (55). When the transhipment is completed, the master of
an EU fishing vessel must send a transhipment declaration to the competent authority
of the flag MS, and to the port MS, if applicable, within 48 hours. The declaration must
include all the required compulsory information on the transhipment (56). If the declaration
is sent by electronic means, the delay of transmission is reduced to 24 hours (57). These
dispositions are also laid down by Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 (58).
The Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 provides more details on the
procedures as regard the transhipment declaration form to be used in paper format (59),
and for the transmission of the transhipment declaration in electronic format (60). With
regard to third country vessels transhipping in EU ports, they have to comply with the
rules on prior notifications, authorisations, pre-transhipment declarations and related com-
pulsory forms set up by Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 and Commission Regulation (EC)
No 1010/2009 (below see more details in paragraph on non-EU vessels). Crosschecks
of transhipment must take account of the different rules applying to the flag of the vessel
and the transhipment area/place.
6.1.11 Depth Restrictions for Specific Fishing Gears in Certain Areas
In the Atlantic, the provisions related to the depth of water for fishing operations in certain
areas are established in Regulation (EC) No 850/98. With regard to the depth restrictions,
for gillnet, entangling net or trammel net, in the ICES divisions IIIa, IVa, Vb, VIa, VIb, VIIb,
c, j, k and ICES sub-areas VIII, IX, X and XII east of 27° W. However, there is a derogation
up to 600 meters in association with various technical measures, including mesh size,
(54) Article 24 of the maximum length and maximum soak time (61).
Regulation (EU) No
1236/2010 of the
European Parliament
and of the Council
(55) Articles 18 and 21 of

No 1386/2007
(56) Article 21 of Council

Regulation (EC) No
1386/2007

Regulation (EC) No
1386/2007

(EU) 2017/2403 of the
European Parliament
and of the Council
(59) Articles 29 to 32
and annexes VI and
VII of Commission
Implementing
Regulation (EU) No
404/2011
(60) articles 36 and 37 and

annex X of Commission
Implementing
Regulation (EU) No
404/2011
(61) Article 34.b of Council

Regulation (EC) No
850/98.
Gear type Gear Size ICES zone Max. Max. Max. Max. Min. Other
number of length total soak hang- requirements
meshes per length time ing
string allowed ratio
Gillnets 120mm to IIIa, IVa, Vb, VIa, 100 mesh- 5nm 25km 24hrs 0.5 Floats
150mm VIIb c j k and XII es deep
East of 27W
Gillnets 100mm to IIIa, IVa, Vb, Via, 100 mesh- 5nm 25km 24hrs 0.5 Floats and
130mm VIIb c j k and XII es deep Minimum 85%
East of 27W Hake
Gillnets 100mm to VIIIa b d and 100 mesh- 5nm 25km 24hrs 0.5 Floats
130mm subarea X es deep
Gillnets 80mm to VIIIc and 100 mesh- 5nm 25km 24hrs 0.5 Floats
110mm subarea IX es deep
Tangle Greater IIIa, IVa, Vb, Via, 15 Meshes 10km 100km 72hrs 0.33 No means of
nets than VIIb c j k and deep floatation
250mm VIII, IX, X and
XII east of 27W
Trammel Greater Subarea IX 30 meshes 5km 20km 72hrs 0.44 No means of
nets than deep floatation
220mm
Figure 75 — SUMMARY TABLE ON DEPTH RESTRICTIONS (SOURCE: IE/SFPA)
Note: Use of gillnets in waters of depth from 200m to 600m as per article 34b of 850/98
consolidated. Vessels also require an authorisation as per Art 7 of the Control Regulation.
The master of a fishing vessel operating such gears in such areas shall record related
specific information in the logbook. This includes the mesh size of the net deployed,
the nominal length of one net, the number of nets in a fleet, the total number of fleets
deployed, the position of each fleet deployed, the depth of each fleet deployed. In ad-
dition, the soak time of each fleet deployed and the quantity of any gear lost, its last
known position and date of loss, must also be recorded. In the areas off Madeira and
Canaries, the maximum set depth is 200 meters (62).
For bottom trawl or similar towed nets operating in contact with the bottom, the maximum
depth to operate is set to 200 meters in the Madeira and Canaries area according (63).
Within the rules relating to area of operations, they are specific fisheries restrictions as
specified in Title IV (Special provisions relating to fishing for certain marine organisms)
and should be viewed in association with gear technical measures.
In the Skagerrak and Kattegat, certain species and gears are subject to nautical limits (64).
In the Mediterranean Sea, the applicable regulation is the Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006,
and gear restrictions are associated with both depth and area, and apply when one of
the two is reached (65). Specific restrictions also apply in the 25 miles’ management zone
around Malta.
(62) Article 30.5 of Council
Outside these two regional EU Regulations, there are rules relating to the territorial waters Regulation (EC) No
of a MS, which apply to other MSs vessels and/or to third countries vessels. MSs may 850/98.
also decide area rules within their own territorial waters for their own fishing vessels. (63) Article 30.5 of Council
Regulation (EC) No
850/98.
(64) Articles 36, 37, and

annex IV of Council
Regulation (EC) No
850/98.
(65) Article 13 of the Council

Regulation (EC) No
1967/2006
6.1.12 Specific Regime Applying to Non-EU Fishing Vessels
A third-country fishing vessel may only carry out fishing operations in EU waters if it has
been issued a fishing authorisation. Such a vessel shall comply with the rules applying
to EU vessels in the fishing area in which it operates (66). Fishing authorisations may be
amended or withdrawn (67).
Fishing authorisations granted to third country fishing vessel to operate in EU waters can
be cross-checked through the EU database, which accessible to competent authorities
for control purposes. This database provides all the compulsory information associated
with the fishing authorisation, in particular the name and flag of the vessel, the type of
authorisation including target species or species group(s) and the authorised time and
area of fishing operation (start and end dates; fishing area).
Access to port services and the conduct of landing or transhipment operations by third
country fishing vessels shall be authorised only in designated ports, or places close
to the shore, and they are subject to a prior notification (68) and to authorisation by the
competent authorities of the port MS (69).
The prior notice of landing or transhipment must be transmitted at least three working
days before the estimated time of arrival (ETA), and it shall include a comprehensive list
of information and it must be accompanied by a catch certificate, if applicable . Prior to
landing and to transhipment, the master or his/her representative must transmit a pre-
landing or pre-transhipment declaration specifying the quantity of fishery products by
species to be landed or transhipped, and the date and place of each catch (70).
Commission Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009 lays down detailed rules for the implemen-
tation of the IUU Regulation. It foresees a derogation to the three days period of pre-
notification, reducing this period, to 4 hours before Estimated Time of Arrival (ETA) in port,
for landing of fresh fisheries products (71). The same regulation also set up the forms for
use with pre-notifications (72) and established the procedures and forms for pre-landing
and pre-transhipment (73).
(66) Title III of Regulation

(EU) 2017/2403 of the
European Parliament
and of the Council.
(67) Articles 35 and 36

of Regulation (EU)
2017/2403 of the
European Parliament
and of the Council.

Regulation (EC) No
1005/2008

Regulation (EC) No
1005/2008

Regulation (EC) No
1005/2008
(71) Article 1 and Annex I of

Commission Regulation
(EC) No 1010/2009
(72) Article 2 and Annexes

IIA and IIB of
(EC) No 1010/2009
(73) Article 3 and annexes

IIIA and IIIB of
(EC) No 1010/2009
Figure 76 — LANDING OF TUNA BY NON-EU REEFER VESSEL (SOURCE: EFCA)
Figure 77 — LANDING OF TUNA BY NON-EU REEFER VESSEL (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
6.2 Check conformity with technical measures and fishing effort
6.2 CHECK CONFORMITY WITH TECHNICAL

MEASURES AND FISHING EFFORT
6.2.1 Assessment of Passive Gear Deployment and Dimensions
The use of passive gears may be restricted in terms of deployment and/or maximum
dimensions. In the Atlantic, in ICES divisions IIIa, IVa, Vb, VIa, VIb, VIIb, c, j, k and ICES
sub-areas VIII, IX, X and XII east of 27° W, the deployment of such gears is subject to
technical measures on the deployment depth, the maximum length, and are dependent
on the type of gear (gillnet, entangling net, trammel net) and on the subarea. However,
those technical measures apply in depths between 200 metres and 600 meters.
In the Mediterranean Sea, the use of trammel nets and gillnets is limited to a maximum
length, depending on the number of crew on board, but must not exceed 6000 meters (74).
This length of gear deployed may be roughly estimated as in figure 78 below below.
However, it may be difficult to be sure what type of gear is deployed, as artisanal vessels
are often polyvalent, using different types of fixed gears during the same fishing trip.
Figure 78 — ESTIMATION OF PASSIVE GEAR LENGTH (SOURCE: EFCA IMS)
(74) Article 12 and Annex

II, 3.1.3 of the Council
Regulation (EC) No
1967/2006
Check conformity with technical measures and fishing effort 6.2
6.2.2 Fishing Effort
In EU waters, the majority of the fish stocks are managed through TAC limits and quotas.
TACs are the amount of fish that can be caught from each stock each year. At international
level, TACs are divided between third countries and the EU. A given stock may be subject
to different regional TACs based on the fishing areas. At EU level, TACs are divided in
quotas allocated to the MSs. MSs may allocate quotas to their vessels according to their
own quota management. For example, in the 2018 TAC and quotas regulation (75), the
haddock fishery is subject to seven different regional TACs. The following figure 79 is an
extract of the annex IA of this regulation, showing two of these regional TACs and their
quotas allocation between MSs.
Figure 79 — EXTRACT FROM COUNCIL REGULATION (EU) 2018/120 ANNEX IA
(75) Currently Council

Regulation (EU)
2018/120
6.2 Check conformity with technical measures and fishing effort
The risk at this level is a possible mis-declaration of the area of catch in order to preserve
a quota opportunity in another area. The following figure 80 shows the track of a trawler
on a fishing trip to Rockall. Rockall is in area VI and the vessel has to steam through area
VII on its way to Rockall and on its return journey to port. The main species targeted,
Haddock (FAO code HAD), Anglerfish (FAO code ANF) and Saithe (FAO code POK)
are subject to different TACs and quotas in areas VIb, VIa and VIIb.
The likely scenario is that the majority of the fishing trip is in Rockall area VIb, and the
majority of the catch was caught in the same area. However, the vessel has limited quotas
in area VIb. On its way to Rockall, the vessel carried out a few fishing operations in area
VIa where the catches were over-declared. Once fishing in area VIb, catches are under-
declared to preserve the quotas in this area. On the way back to port, the vessel carries
out a few fishing operations in area VIIb where the catches are once again over-declared
in order to balance the actual catch on board with the total log book declaration, before
entering the landing port. In this scenario, a control at sea during the transit from VIa to
VIb, or during transit from VIb to VIIb, could have detected discrepancies between catch
on board and the logbook figures.
Figure 80 — TRAWLER FISHING TRIP TO ROCKALL (SOURCE: IRL FMC)
Check conformity with technical measures and fishing effort 6.2
Figure 81 — FISHING AREAS VI AND VII, AND SUB-AREAS (SOURCE: ICES)
6.3 Cross-check fishing vessel track with logbook information
6.3 CROSS-CHECK FISHING VESSEL TRACK

WITH LOGBOOK INFORMATION
6.3.1 Relevant Logbook Declarations (Dates/Times/Areas)
As previously mentioned in a previous paragraph, due to regional TACs and quotas, there
is a risk of mis-declaration of the catch areas. When such a risk is detected, crosschecks
between vessels’ track and logbook/landing declaration is recommended. The following
figures 82 and 83 show the VMS track of a vessel operating in the statistical rectangle
44F4, while the statistical rectangle of catches is declared in the log book to be 43F5
(fig. 84).
Figure 82 — VMS TRACK IN 44F4 (SOURCE: DNK FMC)
Cross-check fishing vessel track with logbook information 6.3
Figure 83 — ‘ZOOM-IN’ ON STATISTICAL RECTANGLE 44F4 (SOURCE: DNK FMC)
Figure 84 — LOGBOOK EXTRACT WITH CATCH AREA DECLARED AS 43F5

(SOURCE: DNK FMC)
The following case of mis-declaration of catch area shows a vessel VMS track in the 3AS
in Kattegat (fig. 85) while the catch area declared in the logbook is 3AN in the Skagerrak
(fig. 85 and 86). Fish stocks are managed by different TACs in Skagerrak and Kattegat.
6.3 Cross-check fishing vessel track with logbook information
Figure 85 — VMS TRACK IN AREA IIIAS (SOURCE: DNK FMC)
Figure 86 — LOGBOOK EXTRACT WITH FISHING AREA DECLARED AS 3AN

(SOURCE: DNK FMC)
Cross-check fishing vessel track with logbook information 6.3
6.3.2 Bluefin Tuna Including Caging and Farming Activities
The BFT fisheries in the East Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea is specific because
subject to additional control obligations. Among other obligations, each fishing opera-
tion shall be recorded on the logbook including weight and number of fish caught (76),
and BFT transfer and caging operations are subject to specific obligations. This may be
cross-checked against the eBluefin.
Consequently, when a possible catch operation is detected by the track of a BFT PS,
a special attention has to be paid to the activity around the PS and particularly that the
following procedures are met:
a. Before to start any transfer, the PS must request an authorisation from its flag
authorities for an estimated quantity of BFT and must specify the number of the
cage in which the transfer will be done and the information on the towing vessel,
and the name of the farm destination (77).
b. Once the transfer done, the PS must send a transfer declaration to its flag
authorities with the final figures of the transfer in number and weight repeating the
cage number, information on the towing vessel and farm of destination (78).
c. Transfers between towing vessels and from the trap to towing vessels are subject
to the same obligations. With regard to the caging operation, which is the transfer
from a towed cage to a fixed cage in the farm installation, an authorisation must
be granted by the PS or trap flag authorities or by the farm authorities, before the
operation starts (79).
(76) Annex II of Regulation

(EU) No 2016/1627

(EU) No 2016/1627
(78) Article 38 and annex II

of Regulation (EU) No
2016/1627

(EU) No 2016/1627
6.4 Cross-check vessel track with access rights & opportunities
6.4 CROSS-CHECK VESSEL TRACK WITH

ACCESS RIGHTS & OPPORTUNITIES
In RFMOs, TACs are agreed on an annual or multiannual base and are split in quotas
attributed to the Contracting Parties. The EU divides the RFMO quotas between the dif-
ferent MSs. The majority of the MSs’ quotas are established annually through a specific
regulation (80).
As previously mentioned, management of quotas at national level varies between MSs.
Consequently, distribution and follow up of quotas and closure decisions process vary
from a MS to another and each FMC will have access to its own national decisions and
rules on quotas to monitor the fishing opportunities consumption of its own fleet. FMC
have also access to closure decisions issued by other MSs for their own fleet through
European Commission decisions published after the official decision of the related MS.
(80) For 2018, the related

regulation is the
Council Regulation (EU)
2018/120.
Cross-check vessel track with sightings from patrol assets 6.5
6.5 CROSS-CHECK VESSEL TRACK WITH SIGHT-

INGS FROM PATROL ASSETS
FMCs receive sightings information from assets involved in fisheries patrols. FMCs op-
erators should crosscheck the fishing vessels’ positions reported in the sighting report
with the VMS data. Furthermore, the operators should analyse the data to establish the
behaviour of the fishing vessels in relation to the gears authorised, and possible prohibi-
tions at that time in that area.
The following example concerns a sighting of a long liner operating LLD during the clo-
sure of swordfish fishery in the Mediterranean Sea. The FMC received the sighting form
accompanied by a photography (fig. 87). The analysis of the fishing vessel track (fig. 88)
shows a possible fishing behaviour (hauling the line) in an area unusual for this vessel.
The fishing vessel was monitored until its arrival in the port of another MS where the
national inspectors, notified in advanced, carried out an inspection and detected sword-
fish on board, which had been caught and retained on board illegally during the fishery
closure.
Figure 87 — PHOTO FROM SIGHTING FORM SHOWING FV OPERATING LONG LINE

(SOURCE: ITA FMC)
6.5 Cross-check vessel track with sightings from patrol assets
Figure 88 — VMS TRACK SHOWING TYPICAL PELAGIC LONG LINER BEHAVIOUR

(SOURCE: ITA FMC)
Cross-check vessel track with VTS radar 6.6
6.6 CROSS-CHECK VESSEL TRACK WITH VTS

RADAR
FMC Operators may be required to monitor a VTS, and be required to identify uncorrelated
radar contacts. Such monitoring may detect fishing vessels engaged in illegal activity
in prohibited areas or close to the coast. It may also expose vessels turning off their
onboard tracking devices (VMS and AIS) in order to mask their activity from the FMC. In
such cases of suspected illegal activity, VTS operators may advise/request patrol vessels
in the vicinity to identify the suspect vessel(s). The operator may also track the vessel
on radar in order to crosscheck against a visual sighting when the vessel enters port.
In the following example, a group of unidentified vessels was detected on radar with a speed
of approx. 4 knots, steaming close to the coast (fig. 89 and 90). When the vessels finished
their fishing operations, and in order to be visible by the commercial traffic entering the har-
bour, they turned on the AIS becoming identifiable by the VTS operators. After crosschecking
with the fishing logbook information, the operators identified a possible non-compliance.
Figure 89 — GROUP OF FV’s WITHIN 3NM OF COAST AT SPEEDS 3-5 KNOTS (SOURCE: ITA FMC)
6.6 Cross-check vessel track with VTS radar
Figure 90 — BEFORE NAVIGATING TOWARDS PORT, FISHING VESSEL’s SWITCH ON AIS

(SOURCE: ITA FMC)
Check conformity with member state obligations for VMS exchange
and storage of vessel track data 7
General 7.1
7 CHECK CONFORMITY WITH MEMBER

STATE OBLIGATIONS FOR VMS
EXCHANGE AND STORAGE OF
VESSEL TRACK DATA
7.1 GENERAL
The Control Regulation and the IUU Regulation have established the principle of coopera-
tion and mutual assistance between MSs, the European Commission and the third coun-
tries’ authorities (81). More detailed rules are provided by the Commission Implementing
Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 (82). Communications in this framework have to be done
through a single authority at MSs level (83).
This single authority is responsible for transmitting, receiving, managing and process-
ing all data from fishing logbook, landing declaration and transhipment declaration in
electronic format (84).
7.2 EXCHANGES BETWEEN EU MS
7.2.1 Information Without Prior Request
In the event that a MS becomes aware of any potential non-compliance issue, in par-
ticular relating to a serious infringement (85), and/or it decides to take any enforcement
measures relating to that serious infringement, it must notify, without delay, the other MS
concerned (86).

Transfer of proceedings
1. The Member State in the territory or waters of which an infringement has been (81) Article 117 of the
Control Regulation and
discovered may transfer proceedings relating to that infringement to the competent Article 51 of the IUU
Regulation.
authorities of the flag Member State or the Member State of which the offender holds
the citizenship, with the agreement of the Member State concerned and on condition (82) Chapter I of Title X.
that the transfer is more likely to achieve the result referred to in Article 89(2). (83) Article 5.5 of Control
Regulation and article
2. The flag Member State may transfer proceedings relating to an infringement to 152 of the Implementing
Regulation.
the competent authorities of the inspecting Member State, with the agreement of the
Member State concerned and on condition that the transfer is more likely to achieve Commission
the result referred to in Article 89(2). Implementing
Regulation (EU) No
404/2011.
(85) Article 90(1) of the

Control Regulation

Regulation
Check conformity with member state obligations for VMS exchange
7 and storage of vessel track data
7.3 Confidentiality of Data
7.2.2 Request for Assistance
A MS may also request another MS to provide any information it has on its national register
on the fishing vessel(s) and person(s) suspected of having committed the infringement
in question or indeed having been caught in the act of committing the infringement. The
MS may also request information on any enforcement measures taken (87).

National register of infringements
[…]
2. When following up an infringement of rules of the common fisheries policy, a
Member State may request other Member States to provide information contained
in their national register on the fishing vessels and persons suspected of having
committed the infringement in question or caught in the act of committing the
infringement in question.
3. Where a Member State requests information from another Member State in
relation to the measures taken on an infringement, that other Member State may
provide the relevant information on the fishing vessels and persons in question
[…]
7.3 CONFIDENTIALITY OF DATA

Data collected and received within the framework of the EU fisheries control system
shall be treated in accordance with applicable rules on professional and commercial
secrecy of data and shall not be used for any purpose other than fisheries control. The
data exchanged between MSs and the European Commission shall not be transmitted
to persons other than those in MSs or European Commission whose functions require
them to have such access. The Control Regulation provides detailed provisions in this
regard (88).
(87) Article 93(2) and (3) of

the Control Regulation
(88) Article 113
Annexes
Glossary A
ANNEXES
A. GLOSSARY
- AIS: Automatic Identification System
- CCAMLR: Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
- EEZ: Economic Exclusive Zone
- ETA: Estimated time of arrival
- ETD: Estimated time of departure
- FAO: Food and Agriculture Organisation
- FMC: Fisheries Monitoring Centre
- GFCM: General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean
- HMS: highly migratory species
- IATTC: Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
- ICCAT: International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
- ICES: International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
- IMO: International Maritime Organization
- IOTC: Indian Ocean Tuna Commission
- IRCS: International Radio Call Sign
- MMSI: Maritime Mobile Service Identity
- NAFO: Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization
- NEAFC: North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission
- LRIT: Long-range identification and tracking
- PNC: Possible non-compliance
- SAR: Synthetic Aperture Radar
- SEAFO: South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation
- SFPA: Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement
- SPRFMO: South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation
- SOLAS: Safety of Life at Sea
- STECF: Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries
- TAC: Total allowable catch
- UNCLOS: United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
- VMS: Vessel Monitoring System
- WCPFC: Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.
Annexes
B References
B. REFERENCES
- IMO Resolution A.917 (22) Automatic Identification Systems [As amended by
Resolution A.956 (23)]: Guidelines for the on-board operational use of shipborne
automatic identification systems (AIS).
- Directive 2009/17/EC of the European Parliament and the Council, amending the
Directive 2002/59/EC
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 (Control Regulation)
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 404/2011 (implementing rules of
Control Regulation)
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 (IUU Regulation)
- Commission Regulation (EC) No 1010/2009 (implementing IUU)
- Regulation (EU) No 1343/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council
of 13 December 2011 on certain provisions for fishing in the GFCM (General
Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean) Agreement area and amending
Council Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006 concerning management measures for the
sustainable exploitation of fishery resources in the Mediterranean Sea
- Regulation (EU) 2017/2403 of the European Parliament and of the Council (fishing
activities outside EU waters)
- Regulation (EU) No 2016/1627 of the European Parliament and of the Council (BFT
recovery plan)
- Council Regulation (EC) No 1967/2006 (Mediterranean Sea)
- Regulation (EC) No 218/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council (FAO
codes species)
- Regulation (EU) 2016/2336 of the European Parliament and of the Council (deep
water species)
- Regulation (EU) No 1236/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council
(NEAFC)
Annexes
Links C
C. LINKS
- www.copernicus.eu
- www.esa.int
- www.imo.org/en
- https://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/cfp
- http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/fleet/index.cfm
- http://eur-lex.europa.eu/homepage.html
- http://iuu-vessels.org
- http://www.whofishesfar.org
- http://www.fao.org/fishery/geartype/search/en
- http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/search/en
Annexes
D RFMOs websites
D. RFMOS WEBSITES
- https://www.ccamlr.org/
- https://www.iattc.org/
- https://www.iccat.int/en/
- http://www.iotc.org/
- https://www.nafo.int/
- https://www.neafc.org/
- http://www.seafo.org/
- https://www.wcpfc.int/
- https://www.sprfmo.int/
Annexes
AIS websites E
E. AIS WEBSITES
- www.marinetraffic.com
- www.vesselfinder.com
- www.shipspotting.com
- www.myshiptracking.com
- www.vesseltracker.com
- www.fleetmon.com
- www.shipais.com
- www.vtexplorer.com
- www.shipfinder.com
- www.bigoceandata.com
- www.aishub.net
- www.shiplocation.com
This manual is also available in electronic format on
the European Fisheries Control Agency e-learning
platform (https://training.efca.europa.eu)

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Course for EU Fisheries

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1.1 Course objectives 7

1.2 Overview and main concepts 7

2 Overview of existing vessel tracking systems, satellite

2.1 Vessel tracking systems 9

2.2 Satelitte monitoring 22

2.3 Integrated tools 24

3 Cross-checking vessel tracking systems 26

3.1 Vessel lists and registers 26

3.2 Maritime boundaries and other areas  29

3.3 Fisheries areas 31

3.4 Restricted areas 35

3.5 Other sources of information that may be available to FMCs 38

4.1 Identify fishing vessels’ activities during a fishing trip 42

5 Fishing vessel gear type – vessel tracking systems 47

5.1 Towed gears 47

5.2 Passive fishing gears 57

5.3 Purse seiners 63

6 Conformity of fishing vessel activity 67

6.1 Check conformity with spatial and temporal restrictions 67

6.2 Check conformity with technical measures and fishing effort 80

6.3 Cross-check fishing vessel track with logbook information 84

6.4 Cross-check vessel track with access rights & opportunities 88

6.5 Cross-check vessel track with sightings from patrol assets 89

6.6 Cross-check vessel track with VTS radar 91

7 Check conformity with member state obligations for VMS

7.2 Exchanges between EU MS 93

7.3 Confidentiality of Data 94

1.1 COURSE OBJECTIVES

1.2 OVERVIEW AND MAIN CONCEPTS

2 OVERVIEW OF EXISTING VESSEL

2.1 VESSEL TRACKING SYSTEMS

2.1.1 Vessel Monitoring System (VMS)

(4) Art. 9 of Regulation (EC)

2.1 Vessel tracking systems

Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No1224/2009

Rules for VMS satellite devices

Article 18 of Commission Implementing Regulation No404/2011

Information transmitted by the VMS

Article 19 of Commission Implementing Regulation No404/2011

Responsibility of the master of a fishing vessel

2.1 Vessel tracking systems

Article 20 of Commission Implementing Regulation No404/2011

Failure of a VMS and non-receipt of data

Article 25 of Commission Implementing Regulation No404/2011

2.1 Vessel tracking systems

Figure 1 — VMS DATA FLOW

Figure 2 — VMS BRIDGE (BELOW DECK) COMPONENT

2.1 Vessel tracking systems

Figure 3 — SELECTION OF VMS ANTENNA UNITS

Figure 4 — INSERTION OF POWER ‘ON/OFF’SWITCH

Figure 5 — VMS ANTENNA WRAPPED IN ALUMINIUM FOIL

2.1 Vessel tracking systems

2.1.2 General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)

2.1.3 Automatic Identification System (AIS)

“Automatic Identification System” (AIS) is a ship position reporting system based on

Figure 6 — SELECTION OF AIS TRANSPONDERS

2.1.4 Long Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT)

2.1 Vessel tracking systems

Figure 7 — LONG RANGE IDENTIFICATION AND TRACKING (LRIT)

2.1.5 Vessel Traffic Services (VTS)

Figure 8 — VESSEL TRAFFIC SYSTEM (VTS) - (SOURCE: SAAB)

1.1 Course objectives 7

1.2 Overview and main concepts 7

2.1 Vessel tracking systems 9

2.2 Satelitte monitoring 22

2.3 Integrated tools 24

3 Cross-checking vessel tracking systems 26

3.1 Vessel lists and registers 26

3.2 Maritime boundaries and other areas 29

3.3 Fisheries areas 31

3.4 Restricted areas 35

3.5 Other sources of information that may be available to FMCs 38

4.1 Identify fishing vessels’ activities during a fishing trip 42

5 Fishing vessel gear type – vessel tracking systems 47

5.1 Towed gears 47

5.2 Passive fishing gears 57

5.3 Purse seiners 63

6 Conformity of fishing vessel activity 67

6.1 Check conformity with spatial and temporal restrictions 67

6.2 Check conformity with technical measures and fishing effort 80

6.3 Cross-check fishing vessel track with logbook information 84

6.4 Cross-check vessel track with access rights & opportunities 88

6.5 Cross-check vessel track with sightings from patrol assets 89

6.6 Cross-check vessel track with VTS radar 91

7.2 Exchanges between EU MS 93

7.3 Confidentiality of Data 94