Exercising and maintaining control of a vast maritime space is not an easy task. To better cope with hazards and challenges, the Philippine Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources deploys a multitude of information and communication technologies (ICTs).

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) of the Ministry of Agriculture implemented the Integrated Marine Environment Monitoring System (IMEMS) project. The initiative aims to strengthen the government’s capacity in the monitoring, control and surveillance system of its maritime domain while intensifying the campaign against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Given the thousands of islands and coastlines in the archipelago, monitoring fishing vessels can be a monumental task. To bridge this gap, IMEMS uses technology. The IMEMS project is an innovative, optimized and integrated monitoring system that extends and improves the current program of the DA-BFAR. At the heart of the project are ICT.

Thanks to the IMEMS project, the DA-BFAR can now track and communicate with Philippine-flagged fishing vessels in real time nationwide. This integrates communication, licensing and enforcement functionality to ensure compliance with the various conservation and management measures implemented in Philippine waters, Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) and other coastal states.

The implementation of the IMEMS project gives us the opportunity to benefit from technological innovations for more improved fisheries management practices while enabling our fishermen to become responsible users of the resources.

– Cheryl Natividad-Caballero, Undersecretary, Agriculture for Agro-Industrialization and Fisheries

The project is part of Agriculture Secretary William Dar’s key strategies to accelerate the development of the agriculture and fisheries sector, dubbed the ‘One DA approach’, which aims to harness advisory services and ICT-based vessel monitoring systems to effectively connect farmers and fishers in the regional and global value chain, Caballero added.

As part of the new project, the DA-BFAR is currently constructing six of the 15 Port and Coastal Surveillance System Type 1 (PCMS-Type 1) towers. In addition, it has installed 25 of the 117 shore stations (PCMS-Type 2) in identified sites across the country.

These control towers and coastal monitoring devices are designed to provide real-time data on the activities of commercial fishing vessels to the Bureau’s National Data Center in Navotas City, now operational since 2020.

The National Data Center will be responsible for data processing and analysis, including integrated vessel tracking, license management, improving local government operations through e-governance (E-LOG) and automated detection of illegal, unreported and unregulated activities.

Additionally, the system also collects relevant oceanographic, meteorological and fish catch data that can be used for rapid response, disaster recovery, scientific research and climate change mitigation measures.

Using low-cost technology that combines terrestrial and satellite systems on vessel data collection, IMEMS ensures that data collected from fishing vessels is secure using up-to-date encryption technology and are made accessible to DA-BFAR partners to ensure data transparency. .

Under the recently amended FAO 266, all commercial fishing vessels over 3.1 gross tonnage, operating in inland, high seas and other distant waters are now required to fit transmitters -VMS-100 receivers in their ships. The DA-BFAR aims to install approximately 5,000 vessel monitoring systems in commercial fishing vessels in the near future.

Digital transformation has been at the heart of innovation in the Philippines. This also benefits the archipelago enormously. It’s not just the maritime domain. For example, the Bureau of Customs has reaped huge benefits by prioritizing digital adoption during the pandemic. The agency was able to collect more export and import taxes compared to pre-pandemic times, thanks to its digitization. In short, even with all the constraints brought by the virus, the agency has improved its workforce.