are a major component of the economies of the coastal member states of the SADC (Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Mauritius and Seychelles). Due to limited resources, there is little VMS beyond experiments in Namibia and South Africa. There is a European Union funded project to improve monitoring. West Africa The Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC) based at Dakar, Senegal is made up of west African States, namely Cape Verde, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, and Senegal. Its role is to promote fisheries cooperation between its member States. The donor is the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the executing agency is the FAO and Lux-Development. Participating countries are These countries are members of the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (CRSP) with the addition of Sierra Leone. The project proposed is a continuation and extension of the AFR/101 Project (FAO), which may add VMS to supplement the present air surveillance. National This section deals with the specifics of national use of VMS, rather than their overall approach to fisheries management. Albania Albania is currently implementing a VMS for its 220 vessels fishing fleet, combining satellite and GPRS communications channels. The BlueTraker VMS solution, which is E-Logbook ready, is supplied by company EMA. Australia Australia has both national and state programs. The national-level program is run by the Australian Government agency, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA). VMS runs on about 500 (growth expected to 800) vessels from small 10-meter scallop boats to 850-meter deep sea trawlers. The Vessel Monitoring System run by AFMA is provided by Trackwell Fisheries of interest include orange roughy, scallops, prawns, tuna and billfish. Fishers must use AFMA-approved VMS devices. Southern Australia There is a regional organization of Southern Australian states which monitors rock lobster, giant crab, and, on a sampling basis, aquaculture. Canada Since 2001, Canada has mandated VMS, for vessels of certain sizes, to fish for specific species in designated areas. The underlying MCS strategies, while differing in specific fisheries, are based on limited entry licensing, with restrictions on vessel and gear types. Canada expects VMS reports every two hours. Canadian activities involving VMS are joint between the Department of Fisheries & Oceans (DFO) and the Department of National Defense (DND). DND is the lead department for an inter-Departmental web-based mapping application, supported by positional information from DFO. DND provides non-VMS surveillance data to a DND-operated data base available to DFO for fisheries management. Aerial