Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) is the mechanism for implementation of agreed policies, plans or strategies for fisheries management. It encompasses not only traditional enforcement activities but also the development and establishment of both data collection systems, the enactment of legislative instruments and the implementation of management plans through participatory techniques and strategies.

Monitoring

Monitoring includes the collection, measurement and analysis of fishing activity including, but not limited to: catch, species composition, fishing effort, bycatch, discards and areas of operation.

 

Control

Control involves the specification of the terms and conditions under which fisheries resources can be harvested. These specifications are contained in fisheries regulations, terms and conditions of licences and other arrangements that might be nationally, subregionally, or regionally agreed upon. The legislation provides the basis for which fisheries management arrangements are implemented. The Licensing section is a key aspect of this component.

Licensing and Certification

The work program and activities of this section for the year involved the assessment of applications for registration and subsequent issue of licenses for:

• local fishing vessels, including Tuna, Snapper, commercial sports fishing, and government research & training vessels.
• fish fences
• fish processing establishment
• aquarium fish and corals
• processing and export of marine products. 
• This section is also involved in a secretariat role for the Fuel Concession Scheme under the Fuel Concession Committee (FCC) such as;

a)  Assessment of applications for fuel concession refuel certificate
b) Monitoring of fishing activities of vessels under the FCC.
c) Reconciling related FCC data with Customs and Statistics

Surveillance

Surveillance involves the regulation and supervision of fishing activity to ensure that national legislation and terms, conditions of access, and management measures are observed. This activity is critical to ensure that resources are not over exploited, poaching is minimized and management arrangements are implemented. The Vessel Monitoring and Surveillance (VMS) section, Tonga Defence Services (TDS) and other international defence forces that operate adhoc surveillance operations in Tonga are a key aspect of this component.

 Vessel Monitoring System

The Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) is a satellite based, near real time, position tracking system for monitoring the location of vessels equipped with the appropriate technology.

VMS achieves two goals: (i) To closely monitor movements and operations of fishing vessels to ensure compliance with fisheries regulations (ii) relevant fishing data are collected for management purposes.

Two systems, focusing on separate fishing grounds, are currently operating side by side at the Fisheries headquarters. The Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) VMS tracks foreign fishing vessels licensed to fish in the region, allowing Tonga to monitor foreign fishing vessels within the EEZ. On the other hand, the Argos VMS tracks domestic commercial fishing vessels operating in designated fisheries in Tonga, namely the long line and snapper fishing vessels. Telnet is being used whilst the change from Elsa to Meta fishery is implemented.

Enforcement

Enforcement is the key function of the Compliance section. Enforcement involves the operational implementation of laws and management controls. Enforcement is most effective when targeted through the use of information and intelligence collected through the surveillance process. Those who fish outside laws and management controls are placing the sustainability of fisheries stocks at risk. As a result large penalties are provided under the Fisheries Management Act 2002 and Fisheries subsidiary legislation.

Legal

In 2010 the following legal work was conducted by our legal section including of provision of legal advice on all fisheries issues to the public at large and other administrative support.