Vessel Monitoring System (VMS)
D4. Fisheries, aquaculture, blue economy and marine resourcesDefinition
Satellite tracking of fishing vessels.
A vessel monitoring system reports a fishing vessel’s identity, position, course, and speed to fisheries authorities at fixed intervals via satellite, independent of the crew. Unlike AIS, VMS data are encrypted and sent only to regulators, which makes them harder to spoof for enforcement. VMS underpins area-closure compliance, effort monitoring, and the cross-checking of declared fishing grounds, and it pairs with AIS-based transparency tools like Global Fishing Watch for a fuller picture.