Development of The Tuna Fish Catch Information Management System using RFID and a Communications Satellite

We presents a new information management system to verify tuna fish chain-of-custody from fishing vessel to the market, which consists of a radio frequency identification (RFID) system, a personal computer (PC), and a low orbital communications satellite (ORBCOMM) system. An RFID tag implanted into tuna fish body records fishing condition data, i.e., fishing time and position (latitude & longitude), vessel name, course and ground speed, and biological data of caught fish, i.e., species name, sex, and body length and weight. Data in the RFID tag are readable and rewritable through the RFID reader antenna without the need for direct contact with the object. The same data and the RFID tag ID number are simultaneously transmitted to an information control base through the ORBCOMM system. Managers of tuna fisheries and fish markets can read the data from the RFID tag in the fish body, and request for data verification from the data storage center over the Internet.