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Oceans and fisheries
News announcement6 February 2020Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries

Remote controlled surveillance aircraft facilitate fisheries control

The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has developed a remotely piloted aircraft system (RPAS) used in maritime surveillance operations.

The system has been readily taken up by the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA), who is always on the lookout for new and innovative solutions to enhance fisheries control. EFCA has been using a quadcopter which takes off from the Lundy Sentinel patrol vessel and operates over areas of interest in the Mediterranean Sea, western waters of the North-East Atlantic Ocean, North Sea and Baltic Sea. By flying in the vicinity of a fishing vessel, the remote controlled aircraft can collect data from different activities on board. This data is then transmitted in real time to EFCA’s liaison officer deployed on board the Lundy Sentinel, as well as to EFCA’s coordination centre in Vigo, and EMSA’s headquarters in Lisbon.

See the RPAS section on the EMSA website for more information.

Details

Publication date
6 February 2020
Author
Directorate-General for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries