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Global efforts to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing have taken an important leap forward, as the first connection between a fully electronic regional port State measures information system (e-PSM) and the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) Global Information Exchange System (GIES) becomes a reality.

The e-PSM application of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), in operation since 2016, is the first application to electronically receive advance requests of entry into port and disseminate to relevant stakeholders information about denials of port entry or port use to foreign vessels suspected of engaging in IUU fishing, and of reports of inspections carried out on foreign vessels accessing designated ports.

The GIES is an information tool developed by the PSMA Secretariat at the request of Parties to the PSMA, which enhances the effectiveness of PSMA by facilitating the transfer of confidential information among relevant entities, in a secured manner, and supports risk analysis by providing summary information on the vessel history in GIES to the next port State.

As of January 2025, the PSMA has 79 Parties which cover 105 States. Seventy-six percent of IOTC Contracting Parties are also Parties to the PSMA. This automatic connection will allow 22 Contracting Parties to also fulfil the information requirements of PSMA without duplicating efforts.

The PSMA GIES was released by the PSMA Secretariat in December 2023 and in its first year since its launch, more than 600 inspection reports have been exchanged between countries that are Party to the PSMA. The GIES is constantly adding new features to strengthen the global fight against IUU fishing. Information on National Contact Points and on Designated Ports has been enabled, whilst the Advance Request for Port Entry (ARPE) is a new feature released more recently.

The PSMA Secretariat is working with other regional fishery bodies whose Contracting Parties have expressed interest in connecting the regional electronic systems to the PSMA GIES, allowing an even stronger exchange of information to assist Parties in closing their ports to IUU fishing.

More information about the PSMA GIES is available here, while information on the IOTC e-PSM can be accessed here.

The PSMA Secretariat can be contacted here: [email protected].