by Alex Gregory
Brampton-based aerospace company MDA announced Wednesday that it has been awarded a three-year contract with the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and Defence Research and Development Canada to use satellite technology to detect vessels engaging in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The contract will run for a period of three years and will utilize a detection program that integrates satellite technology to locate and track vessels that have switched off their location transmitting devices in an attempt to evade monitoring, control and surveillance. Known as “Dark Vessel Detection,” the program will combine data from multiple satellite missions, including the company’s RADARSAT-2 system, combined with space-based radio frequency collection and geo-spectrum analysis to assist in locating vessels involved in illegal fishing.
“We look forward to working with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to deliver this important project that will help Canada contribute to international efforts aimed at combatting illegal fishing,” said MDA CEO Mike Greenly. “Successful delivery of this project will also position MDA to provide ocean-based information as a service to other customers wishing to better and more efficiently monitor and protect their waters and sustain the ocean economy.”
Advanced analytics, multi-sensor data fusion platform and expertise in maritime domain awareness will support the international community to combat the challenges facing our oceans and environment. The program will also provide satellite data and analysis to the Government of Canada in support of Ecuador – including surveillance around the Galapagos Islands. In a related initiative, last August, a team comprised of MDA, VizworX and Simon Fraser University was selected by the Digital Technology Supercluster for the Cycle 3 Protecting Our Oceans project in the Supercluster’s Technology Leadership Program.
The team aims to develop a solution that will recognize vessels that fish illegally, deter and blacklist them and ultimately prosecute the owners to protect our global fisheries and marine ecosystems. Technology developed through this program may further enhance MDA’s maritime platform offering to better enable our customers to protect the environment, food supply chains, jobs provided by the ocean, and help deliver information to increase border security and tackle human rights violations.
