Navy, Coast Guard satellite to keep track of fishing vessels

New Delhi, February 13

The Navy and the Coast Guard will soon have the latest satellite to track fishing vessels across a wider area at sea.

This will be separate from the existing naval satellite ‘Rukmini’. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is coming up with an OCEANSAT-III, for which the Department of Fisheries is providing Rs 30.65 crore this fiscal ending on March 31.

“This (the satellite) will cover the entire Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and hence, track fishermen in a comprehensive manner,” the Ministry of Defence told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

The EEZ is 370 km of sea from any point of the Indian territory and needs to be regulated for illegal activities. The launch of the OCEANSAT-III is not yet announced, but is expected within two months.

The first OCEANSAT was launched in 1999. The latest version will map several aspects that effect fisheries.

Tracking unregulated and regulated fishing boats is one of prime tasks of the Navy and Coast Guard especially after the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, when armed terrorists from Pakistan sailed on a hijacked fishing boat to reach Mumbai.

The costal security revamp post-Mumbai attacks included installing the Automatic Identification System (AIS), also called transponders, on all fishing vessels. These emit a signal that allows the ground-based controllers to know the location of boats.

All set for OCEANSAT-III

Rs 30.65 cr provided by Department of Fisheries for the latest satellite

• It will cover the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone, which is 370 km of sea from any point of Indian territory
• The launch of OCEANSAT-III is not yet announced, but is expected in two months