Based on our previous experience in the fishing industry, Dytronics Ltd. was asked by MAFF to tender for a tracking system to monitor commercial fishing vessels. We evaluated security issues and put forward a proposal for data logging and supply of computers to MAFF offices for recording and displaying vessel tracks.

We won the tender, and found ourselves in competition with 5 other companies who were to build their own systems. Three systems were based on Inmarsat C communication and were intended for the larger vessels in the fleet, while another three were based on GPS tracking and were to be designed for smaller vessels forming the majority of the UK fleet. All suppliers were to fit systems to six vessels and maintain the systems for a minimum of one year, to evaluate problems in operation.

Our system was based on receiving GPS data from a mast-mounted receiver then encrypting the data and transmitting it via cable to a data logging box mounted somewhere within the vessel. The logging box provided some GPS data on the illuminated display to encourage the vessel owners to mount the box in a position of good visibility. Various data security arrangements were incorporated along with sufficient battery reserve to operate the system for 4 weeks when disconnected from the vessel.

To compliment the recording system and the removeable data cards, we supplied the MAFF offices involved in tracking the vessels with logging software on computers. The cards were inserted into a reader, checked for tampering, and the vessel tracking data downloaded. The data was displayed graphically as a track on an auto-scaling map of the UK fishing grounds. As vessels returned from new trips the data was added to previous records, allowing the officers to see the vessel positions at any time during the year of recording data.

As the system was not requested by the vessel operators it was expected that the system would be badly treated, and attempts to lose the recording media were experienced. This was overcome by the MAFF officers visiting the vessels with a master card which downloaded the data stored in the secure recording box.

The final results at the end of the trial showed that the Dytronics system had performed most reliably of all systems, and recorded almost continuous data from the vessels even when operating from Europe.