The sheer size of the ocean poses one of the biggest challenges to curbing illegal fishing, especially for a tiny island nation like Palau whose territorial waters encompass a swath of ocean nearly the size of Texas. With just three vessels comprising the government’s patrol fleet, there has been little hope of defending Palauan waters […]
On dry land, ecologists and conservationists can map our human footprints on the landscape. We can see deforestation, mountaintop removal, river damming and development, and it is relatively easy to recognize our impacts on an ecosystem and the plants and animals that live there. In the ocean, our impacts are less tangible. Water covers more […]
On World Ocean Day in June 2017, we partnered with Minister Susi Pudjiastuti and the Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries to publicly release Indonesian Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data. This was the first ever public release of VMS data. Previously accessible only in a dedicated public workspace on our site, this data is […]
Novel research provides new tool to improve global fisheries oversight Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing accounts for up to $23.5 billion every year and is enabled by vessels frequently changing their name, flag State or owner. New research , led by Global Fishing Watch and published in Science Advances , uses big data processing and a compilation of global datasets to track […]
The first step in catching illegal and unreported fishing activity can feel a little like casting a net over a wide swath of the ocean. There’s going to be a lot of bycatch, because much of what fits in your net isn’t really what you’re after. It takes some background knowledge and often a little […]
Tracking refrigerated cargo ships, commonly called reefers, can help address illegal fishing in the Gulf of Guinea Transshipment, or the transfer of fish from one vessel to another, is a vital part of the global commercial fishing industry. It touches a wide variety of seafood products, from bigeye and skipjack tuna all the way to […]
A team of scientists investigate benefits of large marine protected areas Standing at sea level, looking out at the ocean, you can only see about three miles (5 km) from shore. The largest marine protected areas (MPAs), which restrict fishing for conservation or fisheries benefits, span up to 200 nautical miles (370 km) from shore. […]
Carrier Vessel Portal Disclaimers Data Caveats The analysis presented in this portal relies on commercially available AIS data and publicly available information. Therefore, AIS data is limited to only those vessels that transmit on AIS and do so by providing accurate vessel identity information. Learn more about AIS data here and here. Portal Usage This […]
At Global Fishing Watch, we use cutting-edge technology to visualize, track and share data about global fishing activity in near real-time and for free. Our primary dataset comes from data about a vessel’s identity, type, location, speed, direction and more that is broadcast using the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and collected via satellites and terrestrial […]
Why is Global Fishing Watch (GFW), a non-profit organization, investing so much effort into collaborating with scientists to publish research papers? And why has the program been so successful in doing so? In this blog, GFW Research and Innovation Director, David Kroodsma outlines why we are pursuing this work, why he believes it has been […]
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