Soon, skippers of an estimated 38,000 fishing vessels registered in Kerala will be required to use a newly developed mobile phone application to communicate their vessel movement and crew details to the government when they leave the harbour and return to port.
The National Informatics Centre (NIC), Kerala, has developed the Android-based mobile phone application to help the Fisheries Department keep an active tab on vessels and fishers venturing out to sea.
The lack of crucial information on fishing operations in territorial waters had temporarily blind-sided the State’s search and rescue operations in the immediate aftermath of cyclone Ockhi. M. Tajudeen, Deputy Director, Marine Department, said the department would issue free Android phones to seafarers, if necessary. The project would cover boat owners. It would be linked to insurance coverage and State assistance to ensure compliance. He said satellite navigational equipment, NAVIC, now being tried out on fishing boats to plot their relative position on the country’s seaboard, would be used to help enhance the range of the mobile phones carried by fishers up to 1,500 km.
The app has been configured to receive as text messages critical information relayed by the government to NAVIC sets. It would notify fishers about weather conditions, wind speed, wave height, visibility, the location of shoals, deep sea traffic, international shipping channels and sea borders.
2-way communication
The second phase of the scheme envisaged a two-way communication between fishers and State and Central marine control rooms. The government has requested the ISRO to enable NAVIC sets to help fishers relay information to the mainland. It will help the security agencies know if any foreign power has detained an Indian vessel or if a boat is forced to seek safety in a different harbour.
The NIC has already created a national database of 2.8 lakh registered fishing vessels in nine maritime States and four Union Territories. The State will link it to the scheme. The Navy, Coast Guards, Marine Police, and national security agencies are the other stakeholders.
