The Ministry of Fisheries says if all goes to plan, the government might just have an electronic monitoring policy at the end of the year. The Electronic Monitor is a system where devices are installed in fishing vessels, mostly long line poles to compliment data on catches. Electronic Monitoring is used to independently collect fisheries data and support verification of reporting and compliance. The Fisheries Ministry says the E-Monitoring is being used to increase monitoring in the longline fishery and to support observer functions and safety on purse seine boats. The EM data can be collected for both science and compliance purposes on the target species being fished, the bycatch and discarding events of non-target species or endangered, threatened and protected species as well as the gear being used.
The Nature Conservancy has been supportive of the trial EM system. Solomon Islands was one of the countries in the Pacific – first to implement the EM systems on the trial basis. An EM system usually consists of wide-angle digital cameras, a GPS receiver, gear usage sensors, storage and processing devices, and a display screen. The sensors can collect data about locations and when fishing gear is being used. The cameras record imagery that can be analysed to determine the effort (number of sets, hooks or baskets), the total catch and other noticeable events (e.g. transhipments and crew behaviours). The Data from sensors can be sent in near real time, speeding up fisheries management decisions.
*The story was first aired in February 2023
