Potential trawl encounters with vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) are detected when VME indicator taxa are caught in a trawl and exceed certain weight thresholds. Such encounters trigger a “move-on” rule, whereby a vessel must move a minimum distance from the location where taxa are captured. There are concerns about the efficacy of the move-on rule for preventing impacts to VMEs, including because move-on distances are not based on the distribution patterns of the VME indicator taxa. Therefore, triggering the move-on rule using an arbitrary distance may not result in moving trawling away from an area containing a VME, and might cause a resumption of fishing within the area containing the same VME or within an area containing another VME (thereby ‘spreading’ the potential impact). Here we present results of simulation analyses on the theoretical protection afforded, and impact to fisheries, of the current move-on distance for the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Organisation and alternative move-on distances, based on the size and distribution of predicted VME habitat patches on the Louisville Seamounts. Our analysis indicated that the current move-on distance seems to provide a suitable level of avoidance of additional interactions with VMEs, while not placing undue burden on fishing operators.