To help you analyze fishing activity around the world, Global Fishing Watch provides reference layers that show important ocean boundaries.
We do not create these boundaries ourselves. Instead, we source them from the external organizations that are responsible for defining and managing each area. If an official source is not available, we use data from leading experts in that field. Our team reviews and updates these layers annually to ensure accuracy. The only exception to that is our marine protected area layer, which is updated monthly.
While we strive to use the most accurate information available, Global Fishing Watch is not responsible for any changes or errors made by the original data providers.
See below for a full list of our data sources. All future updates will be listed here.
FAO major fishing areas
Layer name – FAO, major_fao
Short description – FAO MAJOR Statistical Areas
Source – https://www.fao.org/gfcm/data/maps/fras/ru/
Citation – © FAO, 2020. FAO Statistical Areas for Fishery Purposes. In: FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department [online]. Rome. http://www.fao.org/fishery/area/search/en
Attribution – © FAO, 2020
Last updated – 01-02-2026
License – Public
Notes – A minor adjustment was applied to the FAO provided No Coastline version of these boundaries layers to adjust for missing regions.
Protected Seas
Layer name – protectedseas
Short description – Contains the regions with category IUCN MPAs
Source – ProtectedSeas
Citation – Navigator Data Download, ProtectedSeas®. https://navigatormap.org/data-request (July 24, 2026).
Attribution – ProtectedSeas
Last updated – 08-27-2026
License – CC-BY 4.0
Notes – Version 2 (V2) of the Navigator data is currently being published on a country-by-country basis as our team completes it. V2 adds new activity and fishing type fields, fields to relate parent sites to subzones, and fields to track how regulations and boundaries have changed from version 1 (V1) to V2.
GFCM FRAs (General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean Fisheries Restricted Areas)
Layer name – gfcm_fras
Short description – GFCM fisheries restricted areas
Source – https://hqfao.maps.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=f7d75085b23143c2a51b53c55fdc9424#overview
Citation – NA
Attribution – Downloaded from General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) website, feature layer created by Roberto.Emma_hqfao
Last updated – 08-27-2026
License – Public
Notes –The layer was taken from the GFCM website.
IMMA (Important Marine Mammal Areas)
Layer name – imma
Short description – Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) are defined as discrete portions of habitat, important to marine mammal species that have the potential to be delineated and managed for conservation.
Source – https://www.marinemammalhabitat.org/immas/imma-spatial-layer-download/
Citation – IUCN MMPATF (2025) Global Dataset of Important Marine Mammal Areas (IUCN IMMA). August 2026. Made available under agreement on terms and conditions of use by the IUCN Joint SSC/WCPA Marine Mammal Protected Areas Task Force and accessible via the IMMA e-Atlas https://marinemammalhabitat.org/imma-eatlas/
Attribution – IUCN Joint SSC/WCPA Marine Mammal Protected Area Task Force (IUCN MMPATF)
Last updated – 08-27-2026
License – IUCN IMMA Terms and Conditions of Use.pdf
Notes – New data layer
EBSA (Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area)
Layer name – ebsa
Short description – Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area
Source – https://www.cbd.int/ebsa/
Citation – Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) (2015). Areas Meeting the EBSA Criteria (Annex I of COP 9 Decision IX/20). Compiled by the Marine Geospatial Ecology Laboratory (MGEL), Duke University. https://www.cbd.int/ebsa/
Attribution