News & Views

New Techniques Reveal Fishing Vessel Identities in the Dark of Night

New Global Fishing Watch technology merges nighttime images with GPS datasets to observe vessels not broadcasting their positions When the sun sets, human activity on the ocean goes on. And every night, satellites snap a picture of all the activity taking place down below, including vessels at sea. Vessels often are equipped with bright lights […]

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Winners Announced for xView3 Challenge to Fight Illegal Fishing

Cutting-edge computer vision algorithms combined with synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellite imagery hold the future in the detection and defeat of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing January 31, 2022–Mountain View, Calif–The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and Global Fishing Watch (GFW) today announced the five winners of xView3, a competition to find the best open-source algorithm to

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On the High Seas, Global Fishing Watch Helps Focus Law Enforcement Patrols

Annual international collaboration Operation North Pacific Guard targets illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing   For three years, Global Fishing Watch has worked with the United States Coast Guard (USCG), Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), and their partners in addressing illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the North Pacific as part of Operation

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Mapping a New World

Tony Long, Global Fishing Watch’s chief executive officer, finds cause for gravity but also hope as we look to the Decade of Ocean Science and a growing consensus that our future—and the course ahead for ocean conservation—should be powered by waves of data, shared and open to all   We wish the news were better,

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

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

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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New Horizons for Peru’s Squid Fishery

Peruvian vessel monitoring system is shining a light on the large artisanal squid fleet in the Southeast Pacific Ocean, Peru’s second most important fishery. Peru recognizes the value of transparency to improve the monitoring and management of its rich fisheries. The country has publicly shared its vessel monitoring system (VMS) data since March 2018, but

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Transparent Ocean Data Can Drive Digital Innovation to Reveal Human Activity at Sea

Global Fishing Watch partners with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Decade of Ocean Science to bring digital innovation to fisheries monitoring Commercial fishing is vital to the food security, livelihoods and cultural identity of millions of people around the world. But the fish that sustain this industry freely swim across

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A Call for Collaboration to Tackle Forced Labor in Fishing

Satellite technology can offer cost-effective solutions to ocean governance, but stakeholders must work together to be successful Forced labor is used in fishing fleets around the world—a fact that is becoming known all too well.  While not every fishing operation succumbs to such practices, unscrupulous employers will often commodify and exploit workers in order to

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Systematic Data Analysis Reveals False Vessel Tracks

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

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

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New Map Revolutionizes Ocean Monitoring and Analysis

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

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

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

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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