The Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, working with the Department of Contracts, has successfully procured a new €3.5 million Fisheries Information Integrated System that will transform how Malta manages its fishing industry. This EU co-funded project will replace nine separate stand-alone systems with a modern, fully- integrated platform serving over 800 commercial vessels and nearly 2,000 recreational vessels, directly addressing the operational challenges identified by the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture in managing Malta’s vital fishing sector. The Fisheries Integrated Information System will also handle Malta’s local and international reporting fisheries obligations. 

The Department of Contracts managed this complex procurement through a competitive dialogue procedure, a three-phase process designed for technically sophisticated projects where the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture played a central role throughout. After the first stage shortlisted three qualified bidders, the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture led the dialogue phase, with their technical experts forming the core of the dialogue team that assessed each  shortlisted bidder’s proposed solution. Through multiple detailed sessions with each shortlisted bidder, the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture shared their extensive operational knowledge and specific requirements, drawing on their daily experience of managing vessel registrations, monitoring fishing activities through VMS and GPRS systems, processing over 31,000 sales notes annually, conducting hundreds of inspections weekly, and administering fuel subsidies. This hands-on involvement ensured that the solutions evolved to meet the real-world needs of both departmental staff and the fishing community, leading to the final phase where bidders submitted their best and final offers evaluated on a 70% technical merit and 30% price basis.

For Malta’s fishing community, this means a dramatic simplification of how they interact with the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture. Currently, fishermen must deal with multiple disconnected systems for registering vessels, submitting logbooks, reporting catches, applying for licenses, and managing fuel subsidies. The new integrated system designed with the Department’s input will bring all these services together in one place with a mobile application that fishermen can use directly from their boats, eliminating mountains of paperwork and reducing errors through real-time connection to vessel monitoring systems. The FIIS will operate on a single truth of data concept ensuring that decisions are based on the same consistent and up-to-date data.

Through this effective collaboration between the Department of Contracts and the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, this EU-funded investment will deliver a future-proof solution that enables the Department to better serve Malta’s fisheries sector, ensure compliance with EU regulations, and manage marine resources sustainably over the next five to seven years.