- The data in the portal is created using automatic identification system (AIS) data. AIS transmits a ship’s position so that others can be made aware of its location and avoid potential collision. AIS transmits a ship’s location, speed, direction, and identity information, such as a vessel’s name and flag. Global Fishing Watch uses AIS data to map vessel movement, or tracks, throughout the globe, and to estimate when vessels are potentially transshipping at sea or visiting a port.Â
- In addition to AIS data, vessel registry data was used to identify the authorization of carrier and fishing vessels in the portal. Regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) produce a database, or registry, of carrier vessels that are allowed, or authorized for a given time period, to be active and transship with fishing vessels in that specific RFMO’s area of jurisdiction. The structure and information provided in RFMO registries is not uniform, nor is the frequency at which the registries are updated. However, all publicly accessible historical records and current monthly records that could be obtained from NPFC, SPRFMO, and each of the five tuna RFMOs were used to identify if carriers were authorized during the time of potential transshipments.To ensure the portal is focusing only on carrier vessels, Global Fishing Watch (GFW) has developed a carrier database that is curated using a combination of sources, including: major RFMO vessel registry lists, publicly available national registries, the International Maritime Organization unique identifier, and a convolutional neural network – machine learning algorithm – used to estimate vessel class, as well as web and search images. The fishing vessels in the portal include vessels from the GFW fishing database that were identified using vessel registry databases, reported AIS identity information, and estimated classification using a machine learning algorithm.