The automatic identification system, or AIS, transmits a ship’s position so that other ships are aware of its position. The International Maritime Organization and other management bodies require large ships, including many commercial fishing vessels, to broadcast their position with AIS in order to avoid collisions. Each year, more than 400,000 AIS devices broadcast vessel […]
Analysis of tracking data from automatic identification system broadcasts reveals vessel locations have been simulated for a number of ships, including military vessels. This false information could compromise vessel safety, decrease confidence in a crucial collision avoidance system and potentially spark international conflict. Over the years, data analysts working with Global Fishing Watch and SkyTruth […]
Platform Updates 2025 March – Vessel Viewer and Vessels API – New vessel identity fields from TMT New vessel identity information provided by TMT is now available in vessel profiles in Vessel Viewer, including vessel gear type, year built, length, depth, gross tonnage and photo, when available Global Fishing Watch and TMT are pleased to […]
Global Fishing Watch has launched an improved version (v3.0) of our automatic identification system (AIS) data pipeline. The AIS data pipeline is the series of processes that we use to convert the raw satellite AIS ingested data to the data products, such as machine learning estimates of fishing activity, identity data that combines merged external […]
User Guide English | Español | Français | Portuguese |中文 Menu Introduction The Global Fishing Watch map is the first open-access online platform for visualization and analysis of vessel-based human activity at sea. Powered by satellite technology and machine learning, the map merges multiple types of vessel tracking data to provide a view of global […]
This article was originally published by SkyTruth on May 31, 2023.
Sublicensee has a non-exclusive, non-transferable, worldwide license to use certain Automatic Identification System (“AIS”) global data collected via the ORBCOMM system of AIS equipped low-Earth orbit satellites and other AIS data sources (the “AIS Data”) for (1) non-commercial purposes including, but not limited to, research and educating the public concerning illegal fishing activity, including for […]
Analysis from SkyTruth and Global Fishing Watch shows ship tracks jumping thousands of miles from their true locations. Bjorn Bergman works with SkyTruth and with the Global Fishing Watch research team to track vessels broadcasting false automatic identification system (AIS) locations and to investigate new sources of satellite data for vessel tracking and for detecting […]
Datasets and Code: Apparent Fishing Effort Global Fishing Watch’s flagship dataset is apparent fishing effort based on transmissions broadcast using the automatic identification system (AIS). In 2018, we published the first global assessment of commercial fishing activity in the journal Science. Our research found that fishing is both widespread—occurring throughout approximately 50 percent of the […]
New study provides first global dataset examining intentional disabling of automatic identification system devices across commercial fisheries The ocean is vast and ship crews rely on several tools to navigate it safely. One of these tools is the automatic identification system, commonly referred to as AIS, which uses GPS transponders to regularly broadcast critical information, […]
