He pointed out that, at present about 1500 multi-day fishing vessels owned by Sri Lankan fishermen are being operated in the deep sea and in international waters in the Indian Ocean and it is expected to have vessel monitoring systems for all multi-day fishing vessels before the end of September 2015.

Sri Lanka, as a member and a contracting party of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission is required to establish and operate a Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) for the vessels operating in the high seas. This will immensely benefit the country to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing practices in the region.