Electronic Monitoring Services

For more than a decade, Archipelago has worked closely with fisheries, coastal communities, and government agencies to provide practical, cost-effective electronic monitoring (EM) solutions.

Archipelago’s EM Observe™ electronic monitoring system uses video (CCTV) cameras, sensors, and software to create a detailed profile of a vessel’s fishing activity at sea. Fisheries can use this information to verify fisher log books, enforce regulations, or support sustainable management practices. Typical applications include:

• bycatch and discard monitoring
• quota management
• review of protected-species interactions (and preventative measures)
• enforcement of licence conditions or closed/protected areas
• seafood traceability

Archipelago offers the expertise and resources to help you plan, implement, and maintain an effective and efficient electronic monitoring program. Services range from complete program design to the provision of monitoring hardware, operating software, and data review software for viewing, interpreting, and reporting on fishing activity data.

For more information, contact Archipelago.

The EM Observe™ electronic monitoring system uses video cameras, gear sensors, and GPS to create an integrated profile of a vessel’s fishing activity at sea. An onboard control centre monitors all inputs, and logs relevant events and video footage for later review and verification.

The EM Record™ data logging software installed on the system automatically produces a detailed record of all key fishing operations including times, places, and equipment activity (for example, winches, pumps, and lifts), while providing the information to help identify specific catch details.

Featured Projects

• BC Groundfish Longline Fisheries - Catch and Effort Monitoring
• US Pacific Whiting Trawl Fishery - Catch Monitoring
• Alaska Halibut Fishery - Seabird Bycatch Mitigation

Once EM data has been collected at sea and stored on the control centre’s removable hard drive, it must be analyzed to interpret fishing activity information in accordance with the fishery’s program-specific monitoring objectives. When the fishing vessel returns to port, the hard drive is removed from the onboard control centre, and delivered to a review centre.

The EM data provides a comprehensive resource that can be viewed, analyzed, and archived as needed; although, with weeks or months of records to interpret, the task of reviewing data can present a challenge. To simplify this process, Archipelago developed the EM Interpret™ data analysis and reporting software.

EM Interpret™ integrates all GPS, sensor, and video data, and synchronizes these records along a single timeline for easy reference. Designed specifically to assist EM reviewers, this specialized software greatly reduces the time required to process and review fishing activity records.

For more information, contact Archipelago.