The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) has announced that from November 1 it will be taking a zero-tolerance approach to Commonwealth-endorsed commercial fishing vessel operators who fail to have a properly maintained vessel monitoring system (VMS) unit operating at all times.
Known as "Operation VMS Crackdown," the zero tolerance campaign will mean that any boat with a VMS unit that stops reporting could be ordered to stop fishing immediately and return to their home port.
VMS reporting has been compulsory for Commonwealth-endorsed fishing boats since 2007. The data obtained from VMS units is used for both compliance and resource management. AFMA monitors VMS units to tell where fishing vessels are located, what they catch, and whether any of them are operating illegally.
"Over recent times we have introduced a number of initiatives to increase VMS compliance," said AFMA operations branch general manager Peter Venslovas. "However, despite our best endeavours, AFMA's analysis of the data indicates that compliance levels are below what we would reasonably expect.
During Operation VMS Crackdown, AFMA will continue the standard practice of notifying operators when a unit stops reporting. If the fault is a technical problem, efforts will be made to restart the unit immediately. However, if the unit cannot be restarted, AFMA will order the boat to return to port immediately. Boats will not be allowed to leave port again until the unit is certified as fixed.
"AFMA is taking this approach due to the less than acceptable levels of compliance we are seeing," said Venslovas. "VMS is essential to protecting the rights of other operators, meeting international obligations and effectively managing the Commonwealth fisheries resource itself."