The BlueTraker LDS - an efficient technology for small-scale fisheries landings reporting in the light of an (EU) Regulation 2023/2842

The  EU Regulation 2023/2842 has recognized in its preamble and Article 14 the importance of requiring reporting of catches for all fishing vessels regardless of their size! In that way, compliance and control will be improved.

It is therefore considered necessary for masters of even artisanal fishing vessels to record data concerning catches in a digitalized way and submit them by electronic means, in particular the fishing logbooks and landing declarations.

To facilitate catch recording and reporting, particularly for masters of vessels of less than 12 metres, an outdoor and shore-based, kiosk-style device as a part of a wider Landing Declaration System (LDS) has recently been developed. It is to provide for fishermen-friendly but accurate landings weighing and wireless data reporting to the national fisheries information systems.

The system provides for secure fisherman registration, digital catch weighing and catch data reporting, and generates and dispenses ice into fish crates to preserve the catch during its later logistics paths. The national fleet of tens or hundreds of Landing Declaration Kiosks (LDK) is technically monitored and predictively maintained from a centralized MS Azure Cloud to improve the resilience of operations. A solar-powered, battery-backed energy management design for use in areas with unreliable power grids further improves the system's robustness.

The LDS with its LDK represent a future-oriented direct-to-fisherman management tool that fisheries management science and authorities have long been waiting for.