Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) Vessel Monitoring System (VMS)

The Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) is a satellite and cellular surveillance system which is primarily used to monitor the location and activities of commercial fishing vessels in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and international regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) areas. VMS supports law enforcement initiatives, for regulatory and statutory violation prevention, and for other fishery data- collection purposes.

Data from VMS is used as evidence in the prosecution of many environmental laws and regulations including regional fishing quotas, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSFCMA), the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA), to name a few. The system employs satellite and cellular-based communications from Enhanced Mobile Transceiver Units (EMTU), which are onboard transceiver devices that certain vessels must carry.

The VMS program monitors over 4,000 vessels 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This number of vessels will increase during the contract period; potentially up to 7,000 vessels.

The NMFS OLE employs software to receive, store, and provide to users (via embedded graphical map display, graphical text display, or via export to common external data and GIS software formats) the location and electronic reports of those commercial fishing vessels that are required by laws and/or regulations to install and operate an EMTU on board their vessel.

The software is used by OLE staff, the United States Coast Guard, State enforcement agencies, and other fisheries-related personnel, totaling over 2,000 users. The Government anticipates award of a hybrid of Firm-Fixed-Price and Time-and-Materials contract.