The Cocos Island National Park (CINP) is located in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, 532 km southwest of Costa Rica. Consisting of  a 24 square km island and a 1,989 square km marine area, including a 12 nautical mile no-take zone surrounding the island, it was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1997 and […]
Protecting Cocos Island Read More »
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
Investigation into seized toothfish vessel highlights need for transparency Read More »
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
Making the Case for Argentine MPAs Read More »
Metcalfe (second from right) conducts field surveys with local fishers. Before discovering Global Fishing Watch, Dr. Kristian Metcalfe worked in Gabon on the west coast of central Africa on a Darwin Initiative funded project (20-009). The project established a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) using spatial analysis of satellite-derived data such as  Automatic Identification
Where Cost Matters: Global Fishing Watch Can Make Fisheries Monitoring Possible Read More »
The Ecuadoran government demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting its waters from illegal activity today when it handed down a $5.9 million fine to a Chinese refrigerated cargo vessel owner and a four year prison sentence to its captain for the illegal transport of sharks and shark fins in the protected waters of the Galapagos.
JOINT STATEMENT FROM THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA AND GLOBAL FISHING WATCH, INC. JUNE, 2017 The Republic of Indonesia and Global Fishing Watch, Inc.* have entered into a partnership to deliver Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data for all Indonesian flagged fishing vessels in a publicly-available data platform. We believe the public sharing of VMS data should
Indonesia VMS Joint Statement Read More »
Brad Sewell, director of Fisheries and the U.S. Atlantic Program at the National Resources Defence Council (NRDC) used Global Fishing Watch to help protect the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument by showing that not all vessels opposing the monument relied on it for fishing grounds. A new lawsuit threatens protection for the area,
Octavio Aburto of Scripps Institution of Oceanography (left) and his colleagues, Juan Mayorga of UC Santa Barbara and Enric Sala of Pristine Seas are using Global Fishing Watch to understand the economic impacts of establishing a new Marine Protected Area in Mexican waters. [UPDATE: On October 5, 2017, the Mexican government announced its intent to expand the Revillagigedo marine park into
There were a whole lot of fishing vessels inside the Motu Maha no-take marine reserve last year, and every one of them had a reason to be there. As part of our series on deciphering suspicious behavior, we asked Dave Stevens, Senior Analyst for the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries, to help us understand
What’s Happening inside Motu Maha Marine Reserve? Read More »
If it’s true that change starts at the top, then efforts to clean up the global fishing industry may be in for a boost. In a joint statement issued last week, CEOs from the world’s eight largest seafood companies committed to leading the fight against IUU fishing and slavery on the oceans while contributing to sustainability
Seafood Giants Commit to Stamping Out IUU Seafood Read More »
After our recent post Deciphering Suspicious Behavior: It’s not always what it seems, we thought it would be insightful to post a few examples of vessel behavior that looked suspect, but turned out to be easily explained on closer inspection. Often, a look at the other vessels in the area can help explain what’s going
Fishing in a Marine Park? Look Again. Read More »
Unusual fleet behavior off West Africa spurs our analyst to investigate Just because something appears suspicious, doesn’t mean laws are being broken. Jumping too quickly to conclusions could embroil a legally operating fishing fleet in unwarranted investigations or accusations. Equally damaging would be to rush in on a crime without solid evidence and lose the
Witness to a Crime? Read More »
Check out this Tweet by Rustu Yucel who used the Global Fishing Watch map to watch the close of the fishing season in Cypress this summer!
Tweeting End of Season Read More »
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
Right on Target, Satellite Monitoring Guided a Police Chase on the Open Ocean Read More »
We’re in the business of putting the simple truth on the table for others to see. So for us, there’s nothing more rewarding than learning that the information we share has been used to accomplish something important. In early 2016, observations we posted on the SkyTruth blog initiated a chain of events that exposed a fleet
Our Analyst Nets Another IUU Bust Read More »
