Open-access ocean maps created by a nonprofit, Global Fishing Watch, are tracking the global fishing fleet to help prevent illegal fishing. A primary driver of overfishing, illegal fishing threatens marine ecosystems, food security, and the human rights of fishing crews.
Global Fishing Watch started as a collaboration among several tech companies in 2015. It uses location data that fishing vessels are required to broadcast, along with machine learning and satellite information, to create publicly available, easy-to-read maps. Law enforcement can more easily pursue illegal fishers in a wilderness that, due to its size, is otherwise difficult to police.
The effort has seen success, even among “dark vessels,” which disable their transponders to go undetected. Illegal fishing off the coast of North Korea decreased by 75% after the organization uncovered widespread plunder of squid in 2017-18.
In the marketplace, “buyers and suppliers want to try and prove their due-diligence,” said Tony Long, the group’s CEO. “They’re starting to recognize the role transparency has to play. They use this information to hold fleets accountable.”