Spanish tech company Satlink has been chosen by the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM) 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 SeaTube electronic monitoring solution on two trawlers and a third system for land-based trials.
According to SwAM, the aim of the project 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,” it said.
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 digitalisation department within the SwAM itself.
Satlink will equip the vessels with advanced systems for monitoring fishing activity and certifying good practices. This 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.
Satlink’s 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.
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, by-catch destination and fishing areas.
Earlier this year, Satlink became the first European company authorised by the US government to supply EM systems to its fishing fleet.
