Last Thursday, we kicked off the public launch of Global Fishing Watch with an announcement by actor and ocean advocate Leonardo DiCaprio at the Our Ocean Conference in Washington, DC.
After the announcement, organizer and host Secretary of State John Kerry stopped by our demonstration in the conference hall to speak with the team and participate in a live demo of the tool.
The previous night, at a pre-launch reception, the Secretary spoke to our guests, about the value Global Fishing Watch will bring the State Department’s Safe Ocean Network, an initiative to combat illegal fishing. “What we need to do with the Global Fishing Watch and the joining with this network,” he said, “is grow this network so there is not one square mile of ocean where we cannot prosecute and hold people accountable who violate the standards of sustainability on a global basis. That’s the goal.”
Within hours of the launch media stories lit up the internet from all corners of the world from the UK to Indonesia, Germany and Costa Rica. Here’s just a sampling of the stories appearing in the US media within the first day:
Washington Post: From space, a new effort to crack down on illegal fishing across the globe
Scientific American: Activists Open an Online Window onto the Global Fishing Fleet
USA TODAY: Leonardo DiCaprio helps Oceana fight illegal Fishing
New York Times (blog): How Digital Tracking of Rogue Fishing Can Safeguard Vast Ocean …
Grist: This new digital tool can help fight overfishing around the world