16 January 2017: Inmarsat Fleet One terminals are being used on fishing vessels in Thailand for Thai Union Group PCL and Mars Petcare’s recently launched digital traceability pilot programme.

An industry first for Thai fisheries, the programme not only tracks end-to-end traceability and supply chain management for sustainable fishing, but also provides an important advance in human rights for the fisherman, enhancing worker voice at sea.

Working in association with other industry and government groups, the programme tests scalable platforms for electronic Catch Data and Traceability (eCDT) systems, using mobile applications and satellite connectivity.

Human rights

In addition, ‘Fish Talk’, a mobile phone chat application accessed over Fleet One, is being used by crew members, captains and fleet owners to stay in contact with family and loved ones for the first time when at sea.

Photo credit: Thai Union

Crew connectivity will also allow activities that take place at sea to be monitored and supervised. Previous lack of monitoring has led to unacceptable labour and fishing violations, resulting in human rights abuses and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Dr Darian McBain, Thai Union’s Global Director for Sustainable Development, said:

“In the long run, traceability will help make the entire fishing industry more sustainable, protecting the environment and workers, while delivering high-quality products and important nutrition to consumers across the globe.”

“We are proud to partner with Thai Union to launch this pilot program. Providing connectivity at sea for workers is a milestone in responsible and ethical sourcing,” said Isabelle Aelvoet, Global Sustainability Director at Mars Petcare. “We know it will contribute to assuring traceability and we are confident it will soon become a standard across entire fishing industry.”