The Barbados Fisheries Division (BFD) has been on a quest to modernize the fishing sector, and the introduction of Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS), and the smart scales in both the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex (BFC), and at Pile Bay Fish Landing Facility have been propelling it quickly towards this future.
VMS Updates
With the Sustainable Fisheries Management and Development Act, 2025 now being enacted, registered fishing vessels are now required to carry vessel monitoring equipment. This is stipulated under Part XII (7), Article 83 of the Act, which states that the vessel monitoring device or equipment is an integral component of the national vessel monitoring system while fishing in the waters of Barbados, areas beyond our national jurisdiction, or any other areas as specified or agreed in an international agreement or international fisheries conservation and management measures. To date, 83 satellite devices have been installed on iceboats and longliners, with this number steadily growing. 36 cellular devices have been installed on Moses and Launches.
As of the 24th of May, updates have been made to the VMS Tracking Platform (Poseidon Dashboard), which implemented improvements to user experience and system performance. These include:
Login page: Users can now change their passwords directly from the login screen.
Landing View: Integrated AntPath to visually display routes and enabled sorting of route points.
Vessel Cards: Cleaned up layout by removing unused information.
Settings & Notifications: Enhanced edit access, fixed creation errors, VMS out-of-sync notifications, and added spinning indicators and alerts.
Smart Scale Updates
Both Smart Scales have now been installed at the BFC and Pile Bay fish landing sites. Market officials and tuna exporting company staff have received training on how to use the smart scales.
These technologies are a testament to the vision of the BFD to propel the fishing industry into the future.
Transforming landing sites to intelligent spaces.