ABSTRACT
The Portuguese vessel monitoring system (MONICAP), created in 1987, was the first implemented in Europe, being presently operating in vessels with length overall (LOA) higher than 15 meters (EC, 2003). Global Positioning System (GPS) data for each vessel, consisting of a succession of geographical locations (latitude, longitude), dates, times, speed and course, are received by a ‘blue-box’ (satellitetracking device installed on board Community fishing vessels), recorded and automatically transmitted via satellite (Loran-C) to the Portuguese Fishery Directorate (DGPA/IGP), the national monitoring authority responsible for marine surveillance. Until 2004, records were obtained each 10 minutes, but since then, according to European Union (EU) regulations the frequency of data transmission may be at least once every two hours, if the national Fisheries Monitoring Center (FMC) has the possibility of polling the actual position of the fishing vessels (EC, 2003), which is the case of Portugal.
