Commonwealth fishers reach 100 per cent VMS compliance

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) is pleased to report that Commonwealth fishers achieved a 98.95 per cent compliance with their vessel monitoring system (VMS) requirements between August and November this year.

Vessel monitoring systems (VMS) uses satellite based Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to track the location of the entire fleet of more than 300 Commonwealth fishing boats in real time, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. 

Compliance rates hit a whopping 100 per cent for 2 days during October and averaged over 98.8% for November.

AFMA General Manager of Operations, Mr Peter Venslovas congratulated industry for their cooperation and achieving an outstanding result.

“VMS is an essential tool AFMA use to sustainably manage fisheries, providing information such as the vessel location, course and speed for the purpose of domestic compliance, fisheries management and research. 

“It also provides fishing operators with automatic alert notifications designed to raise awareness upon entering protected areas such as Commonwealth Marine Reserves.”

“The high compliance rates demonstrate industry support of VMS and industry’s commitment to the sustainability of Commonwealth fisheries for current and future generations”. 

All boats nominated to Commonwealth fishing concessions are required to have an approved VMS unit fitted and always functioning. AFMA is reminding operators are VMS units are to remain switched on at all times and this includes across the Christmas and New Year period.

For more information on vessel monitoring systems visit afma.gov.au. If you suspect illegal fishing, please contact CRIMFISH 1800 274 634.