On 6 Dec 2005 01:22:21 -0800,
wrote:
http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/refm/observers/default.htm
http://www.apo-observers.org/Observe...o_homepage.htm
Thanks for the links - I will definitely look into them.
How about this. Put some black box gizmo (design left to the electronic
wizards here) that sends vessel position back to home base or easier
yet, simply records vessel movements for play back later. Hey, do they
make a cheep GPS that records course traveled? Stick it in a sealed box
with external antenna. If crew tampering is evident bust the boat for a
few Boks. No problem there except if your fishing boat is meeting a MS
for clandestine offloads.
That is basically what is happening - the idea is that the boats will only be
given the diesel subsidy (which is quite significant) in return for being
tracked. The tracking will actually be done in real time.
The idea is to incorporate (if possible) a catch monitoring function into the
tracking equipment, so not only do you know where they are, but whether their
nets are in or out, and whether their nets are full or empty.
So it sounds as though you simply want to make sure the boats bring
their catch home.
Yes, all of it. :-)
If the government is going to subsidize the fishermen's fuel, it want to make
sure the fish come back to be sold locally.
Problem one: how does the USA monitor vessel movement/location? USCG
uses planes and cutters. I think the 378' Morgenthau was patrolling the
East Pacific for a while. Does your host nation have a navy? Do not
forget onboard observers. There are electronic methods that cost less
than a C130 or a P3.
There is talk of aircraft, though there are bigger problems around here like
pirates & smugglers, so tracking fishermen is a pretty low priority for these
valuable aircraft resources.
How much do you have to spend for the program? What resources are
available to deploy?
That's a good question - at the moment it's the other way around. They want
us to come up with a proposal & a price, and they'll say yes or no.
We are looking at providing the tracking, and we are very experienced in this
side of things, but the catch monitoring is another kettle of fish, if you'll
pardon the pun.
you'll see an ad for some trawl technology that's pretty cool. Its
called ""trawl sonar." Been around since the mid 1980s It shows
what's going in the net and will "pop and egg" when certain
points in the codend (bag) are full.
"pop and egg"? No Google hits. I've just ordered my subscription to National
Fisherman though. Trawl sonar brought up some hits though - some fancy gear
at http://www.wesmar.com/trawl.html
There are also non technical ways to insure compliance but would need
someone knowledgably with local cultural beliefs-values-attitudes and
morays. Maybe a cultural anthologist or ex Peace Corp Volunteer could
help. There may be a simple "cultural" answerer. So why do the
fishers feel compelled to sell their catch else where? Okay the
obvious........ better price or maybe?
Pretty sure it's price - no fuel subsidy in neighbouring countries, so fish
price is expensive. Subsidy here, but no compulsion to bring back. Well, the
law is there (I think), but insufficient enforcement.
Unfortunately I'm just an engineer working for a company providing tracking
equipment. The legalities & moral consequences of how it is used is decided
higher up than me. :-)
The fish counting is not a problem. Just have the boats brail, dump,
suck, pike the buggers onto a scale on the dock.
That's the current problem - they fill up with fuel, disappear for a week,
come back empty, asking for more fuel. The unknown is whether they are
sailing around the corner & selling their fuel to foreign vessels, or
catching fish & selling them to neighbouring countries, or both. Real-time
tracking will answer most of these questions, but catch monitoring will also
help.
The real issue is
compliance to local law. Or in other words, how do you secure a border
and monitor vessel movement?
Not so easy in developing countries with scarce enforcement resources.
So my third question now is......How much do you have to spend?
Me? None! :-)
The client - not sure. They want us to include an option for detecting catch
amounts with our tracking system. If it's within their (unknown) budget, then
they will hopefully take the option. Presumably if they are at all interested
we will have to do some trials first.
Dave