Sarah Bladen

Sarah leads our public relations, communications and outreach, working with the team to promote our data, science and transparency program and advance our engagement and impact with partners. Sarah has worked for close to 20 years in the not-for-profit sector, most recently leading global communications and marketing for the Marine Stewardship Council. Previously, Sarah held various roles with WWF, the global conservation organization; running anti-poaching campaigns in South-east Asia and driving global conservation and policy communications from the secretariat in Switzerland. A journalist by trade, Sarah believes in the power of impactful story-telling to inspire change. Sarah is passionate about marine life, and when not glued to her keyboard she can be found practising her kayaking skills along the Welsh coast or hankering for the warmer waters of her home country, Australia.

aerial vessel

New Technology to Help Tackle Illegal Fishing by Alerting Insurers to Risk

Data and technology, Impacts, Press Release, Research and analysis / By

Global Fishing Watch, Trygg Mat Tracking, Oceana, Ocean Unite and the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance are partnering to create a risk assessment tool to help insurers identify vessels at risk of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing Data-powered tool will help prevent vessels at high risk of involvement in IUU fishing operations from accessing …

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African Nations to Use New Technology in Tightening Port Controls, Fighting Illegal Fishing With Big Data

Data and technology, Fisheries, News & Views, Press Release, Research and analysis, Transparency / By

Pilot project delivers new vessel tracking technology and analysis where limited resources hamper detection and enforcement efforts Dakar, Senegal – Four African nations and a regional fisheries organization are harnessing new technology to strengthen port controls and combat illegal fishing. The international nonprofits, Global Fishing Watch and Trygg Mat Tracking are partnering with Senegal, Ghana, …

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United States Coast Guard patrols over illegal driftnet fishing vessel

xVIEW3 Challenge: Just Weeks left to Submit Algorithms to Help Detect and Defeat Illegal Fishing

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xVIEW3’s leader board has been heating up with potential computer vision solutions to detect dark vessels to help shine a light on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activity Washington, D.C. — Close to 900 participants have begun to submit algorithms that could help transform our ability to rapidly identify potential IUU fishing activity and more effectively …

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Systematic Data Analysis Reveals False Vessel Tracks

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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 …

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U.S. Government and Nonprofit Organization Host Prize Competition to Leverage the Latest Technology to Detect and Defeat Illegal Fishing

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Defense Innovation Unit and Global Fishing Watch Announce the xView3 Challenge to Combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and Global Fishing Watch (GFW) today announced the xView3 Challenge prize competition to identify the best computer vision algorithms to advance the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated …

U.S. Government and Nonprofit Organization Host Prize Competition to Leverage the Latest Technology to Detect and Defeat Illegal Fishing Read More »

New Map Revolutionizes Ocean Monitoring and Analysis

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To better visualize activity at sea, Global Fishing Watch engineers new technology to power updated map Despite its overwhelming benefits and the value it brings to all life on Earth, the ocean remains one of the least observed areas of our planet. We have been able to see very little of what’s happening across the …

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Fisheries Transparency in the Mediterranean: Time to Emerge from the Dark

Fisheries, News & Views, Research and analysis, Transparency / By

Global Fishing Watch is using radar data to detect fishing vessels hidden from monitoring systems Global Fishing Watch is working to transform fisheries governance by harnessing satellite data to publicly show the movements of fishing vessels. A key data source for detecting apparent global fishing activity is satellite automatic identification system, or AIS—a collision avoidance …

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Vessel track

Assessing Risk in Seafood Supply Chains Takes Technology and Teamwork

Data and technology, Fisheries, News & Views, Research and analysis, Transparency / By

New collaboration aims to shed light on the seafood industry through the development of new risk assessment tools. The opaqueness of modern global supply chains leaves a lot of room for bad behavior in the production of a myriad of products, including seafood. While greater transparency, along with sustainability and human rights best practices, are …

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United States Coast Guard patrols over illegal driftnet fishing vessel

U.S. Southern Command signs partnership agreement with Global Fishing Watch

Fisheries, News & Views, Press Release, Research and analysis, Transparency / By

New cooperation aims to harness vessel data and analysis to strengthen maritime surveillance and control in Latin America and the Caribbean DORAL, Fla. – The United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced today they have entered into an agreement with the international nonprofit organization, Global Fishing Watch (GFW) to help detect, deter and identify illegal, unreported …

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Global Fishing Watch launches new technology to enhance ocean management

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Groundbreaking portal harnesses open data and machine learning to help transform management and research for critical marine areas Washington, D.C. — Global Fishing Watch has launched an innovative technology portal to help strengthen management of marine protected areas (MPAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs). The portal hosts diverse datasets and analysis tools to …

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Illegal fishing by dark fleets in north korea

A 2020 Analysis: Detecting the Dark Fleets in North Korea and Russia

Data and technology, Fisheries, News & Views, Research and analysis / By

Satellite technology reveals decline in illegal fishing activity in North Korean and Russian waters compared to previous years  In July 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic was sweeping across the globe, Global Fishing Watch published a groundbreaking scientific paper revealing one of the largest known cases of illegal fishing. The foreign fishing activity detected across 2017-19 …

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Tuna transshipment in the Indian Ocean

New Study Unveils Risk of Forced Labor in Fisheries

Data and technology, Fisheries, News & Views, Research and analysis / By

Researchers leverage satellite data, machine learning, and human rights expertise to develop model that determines risk of forced labor on fishing vessels In 2016 our research group at the Environmental Market Solutions Lab (emLab) was collaborating with a team of fisheries scientists and economists to better understand the economic rationale behind fishing on the high …

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Satellites can reveal risk of forced labor in the world’s fishing fleet

Satellites can reveal risk of forced labor in the world’s fishing fleet

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Groundbreaking model uses remote sensing data, machine learning, and human rights expertise to shed light on slavery at sea  Washington, D.C. – Vessels known to have crew that are subject to forced labor behave in systematically different ways to the rest of the global fishing fleet, reveals a new paper published today in the scientific …

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MUNRO and Kamchatka

Global Fishing Watch Assists U.S. Coast Guard Patrol in the Pacific

Fisheries, Impacts, News & Views, Research and analysis / By

International collaboration and information sharing are key to detecting suspicious vessels and achieving well-managed fisheries. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Cutter DOUGLAS MUNRO recently completed a nearly two-month patrol, traveling 12,500 miles (20,117 km) throughout the ocean in support of Operation North Pacific Guard, an annual high seas fisheries law enforcement operation designed to detect …

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Flying Squid Japanese catch

Media kit: Illuminating Dark Fishing Fleets in North Korea

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On 22 July 2020, the journal, Science Advances published our ground-breaking study, Illuminating Dark Fishing Fleets in North Korea, revealing the largest known case of illegal fishing perpetrated by vessels originating from one country operating in another nation’s waters.  Communications materials Press release: Report Exposes Rampant Illegal Fishing in North Korean Waters Paper: Illuminating Dark …

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