Fishing is one of the earliest human activities. It is an important sector of the Greek economy, and even more so for the local economies of the Greek islands which depend heavily on it.
Due to the uncontrolled exploitation of natural resources, the fisheries sector frequently struggles with difficulties. In order for these challenges to be addressed, strict protective measures have been put in place at the national, European and international level. The Hellenic Coast Guard monitors and enforces compliance with fisheries legislation in areas of jurisdiction, by carrying out inspections on fishing vessels, vehicles transporting fishery products and at points of sale of fishery products.
The fisheries monitoring center (FMC) is based at the Fisheries Control Directorate and operates 24/7. Its task is the monitoring, control and surveillance of vessels equipped with vessel monitoring system (VMS).
Inter alia, the FMC carries out checks to detect and prevent illegal fishing activities. To this end, and if necessary, the FMC may engage vessels and/or personnel of the competent Port Authorities.