IEC Telecom Group (IEC Telecom), satcom solutions provider, supports the World Maritime Day 2020 theme “Sustainable shipping for a sustainable planet” by encouraging the fishing industry to adopt improved data collection procedures in an effort to curb overfishing of the world’s oceans.

This year, World Maritime Day aims to raise awareness of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and one of the goals that resonates strongly with IEC is the call to ”Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development”.

In response to both environmental and market needs, IEC Telecom, Thuraya Sales Partner in Asia, presents MarineStar, a reliable solution to monitor fishing activities and inventory. The goal is to prevent overfishing and the data collected will also increase the efficiency of local governing bodies in areas such as catch traceability and fishing control.

Nabil Ben Soussia, CEO, Asia, Middle East and CIS at IEC Telecom said: “Unregulated fishing remains a global problem with severe consequences financially and environmentally. The fisheries market in Asia accounts for more than half of the total marine capture. However, the inability to record fishing activities and collect data efficiently makes scientific estimates of fish population health impossible. Meanwhile, for these small and medium size vessels which are predominant in Asia, cost and space onboard are the main hurdles to install these systems.”

With satellite connectivity at a cost comparable to a GSM service, Thuraya MarineStar enables improved sea-to-shore communication. When instructions are received on a timely basis, it can significantly impact vessel operations with optimised navigation and reduced labour hours. In addition, MarineStar offers catch reporting and vessel tracking functionalities, helping fishing enterprises manage fleet more efficiently, while meeting regulatory requirements.

“The fishing economy provides livelihood to millions in Asia and will continue to do for years to come. World Maritime Day is a timely reminder to the industry that business goals and sustainability goal can co-exist. Although the shipping industry is facing unprecedented challenges, unsustainable fishing poses long-term threat to our planet and that should not be left unchecked. To achieve UN’s goal of effectively regulate harvesting and end illegal fishing by 2020, we need the urgency to bring this issue into perspective again and this is what we are trying to achieve with Thuraya MarineStar and our suite of communications technologies.” Nabil Ben Soussia concluded.