ⓒ Ben Dilley
The Issue
In recent years, governments have stepped up action to protect marine habitats globally. While the overall coverage of marine protected areas (MPAs) has increased significantly, it nonetheless remains patchy, with many areas offering protection on paper but not in practice.
Highly protected MPAs can help ecosystems and fish stocks recover and thrive. But they often face opposition, particularly from the fishing industry. Many fishing vessels target the productive waters that are most in need of protection, though information about exactly where fish are caught tends to be kept highly guarded.
Governments and fishing industry officials need better information on the potential economic, social and environmental impacts of MPAs so they can make informed, transparent decisions.
Our Work
The Global Fishing Watch map makes it possible to see which vessels are fishing where and when—and that’s played an important role in MPA negotiations. Our friends at National Geographic’s Pristine Seas have used our data to help establish several marine reserves, including:
- Clipperton Atoll, a French territory in the Pacific Ocean.
- Niue in the South Pacific Ocean.
- Revillagigedo Archipelago National Park, Mexico’s largest fully protected marine reserve.
- Juan Fernández Archipelago and Cape Horn in Chile.
- Yaganes and Namuncurá-Burdwood Bank II in the south Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Argentina.
In a number of cases, information from Global Fishing Watch has been critical in responding to the economic arguments put forward by the fishing industry in opposition to the creation of a marine protected area. In the case of the Revillagigedo Islands, for instance, our data showed that, contrary to the claims of the fishing lobby, a no-fishing zone would have little effect on Mexican tuna fishers and would help preserve the pristine ecosystem and unique biodiversity.
We look forward to continuing our support for countries dedicated to meeting the internationally agreed target of protecting 30 percent of the ocean by 2030—and helping them them manage their MPAs more effectively.
“Global Fishing Watch is allowing us to bring transparent data to the negotiating table and to objectively assess the potential impacts of a marine reserve on the fishing industry. This has been critical to advance the implementation of marine reserves in many of our recent expeditions.”
Juan S. Mayorga
Marine data scientist affiliated with the Sustainable Fisheries Group at University of California, Santa Barbara and National Geographic's Pristine Seas