Swedish authority chooses the spanish company Satlink to digitally monitor the compliance of its fishing vessels
Satlink will equip vessels with one of the most advanced systems on the market to monitor fishing activity and certify good practices
The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM) has chosen the technology of Spanish company Satlink to develop a trial project that will evaluate the potential of electronic monitoring (EM) systems to digitally monitor and manage compliance with the landing obligation of all catches by the Scandinavian country's fishing fleet.
The project involves the design and implementation of Satlink's electronic monitoring solution (called SeaTube) on two trawlers and a third system for land-based trials. The aim of the project, according to SwAM, is to “answer questions about how future fisheries control could work once EM has been fully introduced and how work using EM (technology, IT services, workflow etc.) needs to function in order to provide the desired benefits in terms of compliance with the landing obligation. EM could also be a way for the fishing industry to demonstrate to the world at large how fishing is conducted”.
One of the expected results of the project is to improve SwAM's understanding of the needs for the introduction of electronic monitoring, e.g., by developing procedures and methods for both operational fisheries control activities and for the digitalization department within the SwAM itself.
With this trial, SwAM follows the recommendations of numerous international regulatory bodies to use technological solutions to improve fisheries management and ensure more transparent and accountable practices.
An advanced and reliable system
Satlink will equip the vessels with one of the most advanced systems on the market for monitoring fishing activity and certifying good practices, which also complies with the fisheries control regulations of both the Swedish Government and the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA).
Specifically, each vessel will be equipped with two high-definition cameras and hydraulic and proximity sensors that will exclusively record fishing activity. The equipment will transmit the information recorded by sensors and cameras to SwAM in real time via a robust 4G communications system. The Satlink system also includes an advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) system that will automatically detect and blur the faces of fishermen in order to respect their privacy, a technology in which Satlink is a pioneer in its use in real-time on-board vessels (Edge Computing).
SwAM will use Satlink View Manager (SVM) software to analyse the obtained data and generate reports that may include information such as catch composition, catch size, bycatch destination and fishing areas.
The reliability of Satlink's EM solution is validated by more than 260 installations and the training of over 100 observers and analysts in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Earlier this year, Satlink became the first and only European company authorised by the US government to supply these systems to its fishing fleet.