No matter where the fishing vessel heads or how fast it goes, the VDR keeps records of the time and ...

1. Voyage Data Recorder Set up by NCKU for Fishing Research
No matter where the fishing vessel heads or how fast it goes, the VDR keeps records of the time and
the longitude and the latitude of the ship, explained Lin.
Lin currently is cooperating with other scholars, hoping to add a sensor on the VDR and then great
amounts of data about sea temperature, season, and harvest can be collected and analyzed.
"Before having the VDR, we didn't know for sure where the fishing vessels were; however, after
setting up the VDR, we can know where fish are caught and the amounts of our harvests. It's really
important information for our management of resources," said Lin.
However, this system can not only record the locations of fishing vessels but find the areas of major
fishery harvests, which help the management of fishery resources.
VDR can not only offer information for the government in negotiation with neighboring countries
about borderline of enforcement but also map out fishing areas, forecasting the conditions of fishing
resources.
TAINAN, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A Voyage Data Recorder (VDR), a small black box with data
recording system designed for fishing vessels mainly had played a crucial role in exposing
Philippines's untrue accusation of Taiwanese fishermen crossing the border in the incident of
Fishing Vessel Guang-Da-Shin No. 28 that occurred on May 9. The VDR was developed by Chung-
Hung Lin, an associate professor of the Department of Systems and Naval Mechatronic Engineering
at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), southern Taiwan.
He also said, the software like map system, information system and data base is applied to draw out
useful data to investigate the happenings along the voyage.
"If you record all the data where fishes are being caught, there can be formed a diagram."
Lin said, when linked to the satellite antenna, the VDR incorporated with GPS can locate a fishing
vessel's position and the data is renewed every three minutes. It is "very reliable and accurate," he
added.
The original purpose of setting up VDR is for setting quota of preferentially priced oil for fishermen,
added Lin.

2. Commissioned by the Fisheries Agency in 2005, Lin is
the designer of the data log with which Taiwanese
fishing boats have been equipped for many years.