Position reporting
Norway decided with effect from 1 July 2010 to require all Norwegian fishing vessels over 15 meters to report their positions at sea. This means that around 700 Norwegian fishing vessels need tracking equipment installed on board. This equipment automatically transmits the vessel’s position, course and speed once an hour, 24 hours a day, regardless of where the vessel is located.
Foreign fishing vessels over 24 meters fishing in Norwegian waters are also subject to satellite tracking. However, a bilateral agreement between Norway and EU has required mutual tracking of vessels above 15 meters from 1 January 2005.
Norway currently has mutual tracking agreements with the European Union, Russia, Iceland, the Faeroe Islands and Greenland.
Electronic reporting
From 1 January 2011 it is required to that all Norwegian fishing vessels over 15 meters to report catch and activity data electronically. Norway and the European Union have also agreed to exchange catch and activity data for vessels over 15 meters fishing in the other party’s waters from the same date. Vessels covered by this requirement do not have to use the paper logbook in Norwegian waters and European Union waters.
Flag State Principle
Experience has shown that the only practical solution between cooperating parties is to apply the Flag State Principle. This implies that position reporting and electronic catch and activity reporting is the prime responsibility of the flag state, and that reports are forwarded from the respective flag state to the relevant authorities.
According to this principle, all Norwegian vessels automatically transmit their positions to the Norwegian FMC at the Directorate of Fisheries. If a vessel enters one of the aforementioned parties’ zones, the Norwegian FMC automatically retransmits that position, and thereafter its position, speed and course in accordance with agreements, to the relevant coastal state’s or RFMO’s FMC. In the same way reports are transmitted to the Directorate of Fisheries when foreign vessels operate in waters under Norwegian jurisdiction.
Fisheries Monitoring Centre (FMC)
In accordance with international agreements Norway has established a “Fisheries Monitoring Centre” (FMC) at the Directorate of Fisheries in Bergen. The national FMC controls that position reports and electronic catch and activity reports are received on a regular basis. Electronic data received by the FMC are handled automatically, and is forwarded via a secure data line to a foreign country’s FMC when a Norwegian fishing vessel enters the relevant country’s economic zone.
Most of the data stored at the Norwegian FMC is only made available to authorised personnel. Such personnel are bound by the Official Secrets Act. Data concerning individual fishing vessels will not be generally available. Neither will the data be available to other fishing vessels. Only the Norwegian Search and Rescue Centres have access to tracking details in addition to authorised personnel in the Directorate of Fisheries and the Coast Guard.