I’ve followed with interest the recent interception by the Indonesian navy of the F/V STS-50, a stateless toothfish fishing vessel carrying 600 illegal gillnets. The F/V STS-50 is a known Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish poacher that has operated under a number of different names and flags. It was blacklisted by Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic […]
Commercial fishing is an important revenue source for Argentina, and the industry’s interests are strong, but the government is committed to protecting at least 10 percent of its territorial waters by 2020. Although reconciling the need for Marine Protected Areas with the economic interests of the fishing industry can be challenging, Global Fishing Watch has […]
In the U.S., you can’t slap a license plate on your car from a state you don’t live in. Not so for ships on the ocean. Of course, ships don’t have license plates; they have flags, but it’s not uncommon for a fishing vessel to fly a flag from a country that has no actual […]
Pacific case study suggests greater transparency will improve legitimacy and sustainability of tuna fisheries Transshipment, the transfer of catch from fishing vessels to refrigerated cargo vessels (often called ‘reefers’ or ‘carriers’) is an important part of many seafood supply chains. But when transshipment occurs at sea, loopholes in governance and gaps in monitoring can obscure […]
Ports provide an important source of information to help us combat Illegal fishing and understand the science and economics of global fisheries. “They serve as the interface between land and sea for fishing vessels,” says Wessley Merten, our data and fisheries analyst at Oceana. “Wherever there’s a port, there’s an interaction. Whether it be offloading catch, […]
Today, we are releasing a brand new version of the Global Fishing Watch interactive map that is easier to use and adds nearly 25,000 new vessels. It also increases your ability to customize the map view and share your work. Beta Release 2.0. comes in response to some great feedback we’ve been getting from our registered […]
A new study published by the scientific journal Nature is the first to quantify the potential release of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the ocean from trawling and finds that trawling is pumping hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 into the ocean every year. Juan Mayorga, marine scientist and study coauthor, talks about the groundbreaking […]
Usually when you want to protect something, you have to know where it is. That sounds like common sense, but when it comes to protecting highly migratory species in the oceans, scientists, conservationists and resource managers are often flying blind. Marine animals such as sharks, turtles, whales and large mid-ocean fish like tuna often traverse […]
When two ships meet to transfer goods, it is called transshipment. In the fisheries industry, it is sometimes legal in ports, but usually illegal out at sea where the practice can’t be monitored. [You can read more about it here]. Transshipment can facilitate the mixing of illegal or unreported catch with legal catch, making it […]
Global Fishing Watch data helps researchers link shipping traffic to whale shark fatalities The whale shark is the world’s largest fish, with adults weighing up to 5,000 pounds and reaching up to 20 meters in length. Earning the reputation of “gentle giant,” these massive creatures roam the tropical waters of the ocean, traveling long distances […]
Take a quick website survey to help us build a better experience for visitors like you.
