Global Fishing Watch is working across the globe to provide governments and authorities with actionable reports and capacity building to help strengthen fisheries monitoring and compliance. Our global team of experts produce analyses to inform monitoring, control and surveillance of fisheries in five key areas:
- Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
- Transshipment
- Port controls
- Marine protected areas
- Operation support
Collaboration and information sharing are integral to achieving well-managed fisheries. By working with stakeholders and making analyses available to national, regional and intergovernmental partners, Global Fishing Watch is enabling fisheries agencies to make more informed and cost-efficient decisions.
The Search for Squid
The waters off South America are home to some of the most lucrative fisheries in the world—one of the most well known is that of jumbo or Humboldt squid. Each year, distant water fleets journey thousands of miles in search of this large, migratory creature that resides in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Sustainable management of squid fisheries depends on a culture of transparency. By improving access to vessel information, we can create a more accurate picture of fishing effort to support research and bolster monitoring and control efforts. Global Fishing Watch seeks to make this information publicly available so that every scientist, enforcement agency and policymaker around the world has a powerful tool to help safeguard the ocean.
Squid fleet monitoring
Global Fishing Watch is monitoring squid fleet activity in Latin American waters. In 2020, Global Fishing Watch mapped the squid fleet’s 2020 annual route and identified nearly 400 industrial foreign squid vessels engaged in fishing activities off Peru’s exclusive economic zone. Going forward, Global Fishing Watch will continue monitoring the squid fleet activity and provide authorities with actionable reports on the fleet’s movement and activity.
North Pacific Guard
Global Fishing Watch provides information to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) during patrols in the North Pacific and west Atlantic ocean. Global Fishing Watch uses risk-based methods to help identify possible suspicious transshipments and potential IUU activity, as well as support investigations of individual vessel tracks that appear to be manipulated to report false information. The collaboration was built on the successful, inaugural support we provided to the USCG Cutter MELLON in 2019, which saw an eightfold increase in identified violations compared to 2018.
TMT
Global Fishing Watch partners with TMT, a nonprofit organization that specializes in information gathering and analysis of organized illegal fishing and associated fisheries crimes. In May 2020, upon request by the Somali government, Global Fishing Watch collaborated with TMT to provide a comprehensive report on the IUU Iranian gillnet fleet in the northwest Indian Ocean. The Iranian gillnet fleet is one of the largest IUU fleets operating outside domestic waters, made up of more than 200 unauthorized vessels operating on the high seas and in the waters of Yemen, Somalia and Oman.
Recent Work
Brazil’s Bold Vision: Harnessing Open Data to Shape Smarter, More Sustainable Ocean Policies
From protecting remote marine sanctuaries to informing major energy decisions, Brazil’s environmental authorities are showing how technology and open data can improve ocean governance.
Strengthening Ocean Protection in CMAR: A Regional Effort to Boost Marine Surveillance and Enforcement
Fisheries analyst Joe Fader shares how Global Fishing Watch and partners are supporting intelligence-led enforcement across the Eastern Tropical Pacific
Global Fishing Watch Technology Helps Expose Illegal Fishing in Mexico’s Marine Park
Tracking data analysis reveals deliberate signal gaps, offering key evidence in illegal fishing probe
Global Fishing Watch spotlights ocean governance successes, highlighting policy wins and tech innovations
Washington, D.C., UNITED STATES — Global Fishing Watch today released its 2024 annual report, showcasing a year of bold strides and critical breakthroughs in driving transparent and equitable ocean governance — from undertaking pioneering research on hidden human activity at sea and catalyzing policy change at the United Nations to joining forces with governments worldwide to advance their ocean management strategies.