March 24, 2021 — Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has announced the launch of a new CAD 7 million (USD 5.5 million, EUR 4.7 million) program designed to track vessels deliberately avoiding automatic location devices.
The program, called the Dark Vessel Detection Program, is being launched in collaboration with Canada’s Department of National Defence, Defence Research and Development Canada’s Centre for Security Science, Global Affairs Canada, and MDA, DFO announced. The goal is to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing by tracking around the world by identifying vessels that are deliberately turning off automatic tracking devices.