One of world's biggest fishing nations faces economic setbacks, turns to artisanal fleet for food security This is the second blog in a series on the effects of COVID-19 on global fishing activity. Read our initial analysis of changes in global fishing activity during the pandemic here. According to the Global Fishing Watch database, [...]
Meaningful ocean action is needed to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 14, says United Nations Ambassador https://youtu.be/-dllabyGKqM Ambassador Peter Thomson, United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, addresses the importance of transparency and technology to achieve SDG-14. The world is at a standstill. Over the last few months, COVID-19 has challenged health systems, [...]
This article was produced and first published by our data partner, Spire Global. Transparency in a whole new light In February this year, a Vietnamese ship entered Indonesian waters, likely fished illegally, and then returned to port without consequence. By March, it was back at sea. There were no signs to indicate that the [...]
Recovery from COVID-19 will require greater transparency in commercial fishing activity Tony Long, CEO Global Fishing Watch As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, its myriad negative consequences are slowly becoming clearer. While many of the impacts have been unmistakable, with entire countries locked down, some are playing out far away [...]
This blog post is the first in a series that we will be releasing on the effects of COVID-19 on global fishing activity. The world is currently experiencing a pandemic due to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, and the impacts are being felt in nearly all aspects of life. As countries around the world issue [...]
Two months ago, the death of fisheries observer Eritara Aati Kaierua was reported in Pacific waters, leading to an ongoing murder investigation. For many people, the idea of a murder taking place on board a confined fishing vessel out at sea seems inconceivable, but for those that know the fisheries sector well, it is [...]
Paul Woods Mogens L. Mathiesen Paul Woods, Chief Innovation Officer with Global Fishing Watch and Mogens L. Mathiesen, SVP, Head of Strategy and Partnerships with Ocean Data Foundation share their ambition on Earth Day (April 22) for a new partnership to harness the current explosion in new data and technology [...]
Large scale, commercial fishing activity has often historically taken place out of sight - fishing grounds far from shore make them difficult and costly to monitor, jurisdiction considerations impede governance and a patchwork of regulations have not kept pace with advances in fishing technologies. As our global seafood consumption has increased, so has the [...]
At Global Fishing Watch, we use cutting-edge technology to visualize, track and share data about global fishing activity in near real-time and for free. Our primary dataset comes from data about a vessel’s identity, type, location, speed, direction and more that is broadcast using the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and collected via satellites and [...]
On March 1st 2020, Indonesian authorities seized five Vietnamese vessels fishing illegally in the North Natuna Sea, located south west of Indonesia’s Natuna Islands, which borders the South China Sea. The successful operation was conducted by patrol vessels from the Indonesian Directorate General (DG) of Surveillance (PSDKP) of The Ministry of Marine Affairs and [...]
Ghanaian woman works on a fish market in Ghana. Anton_Ivanov / Shutterstock.com In West Africa, fishing, fish processing and fish selling are all part of life for many women. Roughly 6.7 million people directly depend on fisheries in the region, which have a landed value of 3.5 billion USD per year. Across [...]
Tony Long, CEO, Global Fishing Watch Once again, Chile shows it is serious about ocean protection. Putting its fishing vessel tracking data on Global Fishing Watch’s public platform will help to build more transparent and sustainable fisheries. The May 2019 United Nations report warning of unprecedented rates of extinction of marine life [...]
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) set ambitious targets to address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, hunger, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation and decent work. SDG 14; Life Below Water, will be in the spotlight throughout 2020 as States come together at multiple international meetings to create [...]
by Nicola Frost, Tony Long, Stephanie Juwana and Mansi Konar When the UN launched the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) five years ago, the world aligned around the need to end illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing by 2020 (SDG 14.4). Seen then as an achievable target, it is now a deadline we’re going to miss. IUU fishing accounts for [...]
Tony Long, Global Fishing Watch Chief Executive Officer, looks back at 2019 and sets a course for 2020 – a pivotal year for ocean governance and conservation. Reality check From five or ten years out, making sustainability commitments for the end of a decade is a seductive proposition for governments and sectors of all [...]
