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Where Cost Matters: Global Fishing Watch Can Make Fisheries Monitoring Possible

Policy & Compliance / By Global Fishing Watch

Metcalfe (second from right) conducts field surveys with local fishers. Before discovering Global Fishing Watch, Dr. Kristian Metcalfe worked in Gabon on the west coast of central Africa on a Darwin Initiative funded project (20-009). The project established a network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) using spatial analysis of satellite-derived data such as Automatic Identification

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Our Data Suggests Transhippment Involved in Refrigerated Cargo Vessel Just Sentenced to $5.9 Million and Jail Time for Carrying Illegal Sharks

Policy & Compliance / By Global Fishing Watch

The Ecuadoran government demonstrated a strong commitment to protecting its waters from illegal activity today when it handed down a $5.9 million fine to a Chinese refrigerated cargo vessel owner and a four year prison sentence to its captain for the illegal transport of sharks and shark fins in the protected waters of the Galapagos.

Our Data Suggests Transhippment Involved in Refrigerated Cargo Vessel Just Sentenced to $5.9 Million and Jail Time for Carrying Illegal Sharks Read More »

Transshipment Report Refined

Research and analysis / By Nathan Miller

Our commitment to open data and transparency is paying off. Input from Global Fishing Watch users and the public, is helping us refine and improve our analyses. Today, we’re publishing an update to our groundbreaking transshipment report. Download the report now. Last February we published The Global View of Transshipment: Preliminary Findings, an original report that maps

Transshipment Report Refined Read More »

What Can We See When AIS Signals Disappear?

Data and technology / By Kimbra Cutlip

We are often asked about how Global Fishing Watch can be effective when vessel captains can simply turn off their AIS. And our answer has always been, “they have to turn it back on sometime—especially when entering port, and intentional blackouts raise a red flag.” Our recent analysis of fleet activity around the Argentine EEZ

What Can We See When AIS Signals Disappear? Read More »

How Global Fishing Watch Contributed to the Creation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument

Impacts / By Kimbra Cutlip

Brad Sewell, director of Fisheries and the U.S. Atlantic Program at the National Resources Defence Council (NRDC) used Global Fishing Watch to help protect the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument by showing that not all vessels opposing the monument relied on it for fishing grounds. A new lawsuit threatens protection for the area,

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Transshipment: A Global Footprint Never Seen Before

Data and technology, Research and analysis / By Kimbra Cutlip

It’s been just over five months since Global Fishing Watch launched publicly, and this week, we hope to make another splash by not just mapping global fishing activity, but by providing an unprecedented view of very specific activity by a very specific class of vessels around the world. Today, at the Economist World Ocean Summit

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Mystery Moves: What’s Up in the Pacific?

Data and technology / By Kimbra Cutlip

Over the past couple of months, SkyTruth analyst Bjorn Bergman has been watching some interesting activity by the Chinese fishing fleet in the Pacific. A large Chinese flagged squid-fishing fleet had been fishing at the boundary of Peru’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) throughout the summer and fall of 2016. Then, near the middle of December,

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What’s Happening inside Motu Maha Marine Reserve?

Policy & Compliance / By Kimbra Cutlip

There were a whole lot of fishing vessels inside the Motu Maha no-take marine reserve last year, and every one of them had a reason to be there. As part of our series on deciphering suspicious behavior, we asked Dave Stevens, Senior Analyst for the New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries, to help us understand

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Making the Cut–Creating Our List of Fishing Vessels

Data and technology / By Kimbra Cutlip

This post has been adapted from “Updated Vessel Lists 0.2” which appeared on our Data Blog for researchers and software engineers by David Kroodsma. Automating the process of identifying all industrial-scale fishing activity in near-real time on a global scale through AIS data is something that’s never been done. Inventing something new often means first

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Deciphering Suspicious Behavior: Not Always What It Seems

Data and technology / By Kimbra Cutlip

The first step in catching illegal and unreported fishing activity can feel a little like casting a net over a wide swath of the ocean. There’s going to be a lot of bycatch, because much of what fits in your net isn’t really what you’re after. It takes some background knowledge and often a little

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Interview with Google’s Brian Sullivan

News & Views / By Kimbra Cutlip

As a Senior Program Manager for Google Ocean & Earth Outreach Brian Sullivan is Google’s lead on Global Fishing Watch. Over the years, he has managed digital divide programs in West Africa, toted Google’s Street View technology through remote areas of the world (including under water), and worked on multiple projects that help non-profits use

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Fishing Fleet Goes Home for the Holidays

Data and technology / By Kimbra Cutlip

‘Tis the season, and even fishers want to be home for the holidays. The flag state filter in Global Fishing Watch allows us to select vessels flagged to a specific country or countries. In the spirit of the season, we decided to use it to see if a cultural tradition that has nothing to do with fishing

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Mystery Solved: Where Albatrosses and Fishing Vessels Meet at Sea

Article / By Kimbra Cutlip

It is the quintessential herald of a fishing vessel on the horizon: a swarming congregation of seabirds, gliding and diving in the distance, sun glinting on white wings as a cacophony of cries echoes across the water. Picturesque as it may be, the scene represents one of the largest threats to the survival of many

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Whaling off the map

News & Views / By Douglas McCauley and Francis Joyce

Are whaling vessels that operate without using aids to avoid vessel collision putting the safety of biodiversity and people at risk? This week the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has convened in Slovenia. The gathering marks the 30th anniversary of the commission’s moratorium on commercial whaling.

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Witness to a Crime?

Policy & Compliance / By Kimbra Cutlip

Unusual fleet behavior off West Africa spurs our analyst to investigate Just because something appears suspicious, doesn’t mean laws are being broken. Jumping too quickly to conclusions could embroil a legally operating fishing fleet in unwarranted investigations or accusations. Equally damaging would be to rush in on a crime without solid evidence and lose the

Witness to a Crime? Read More »

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Where Cost Matters: Global Fishing Watch Can Make Fisheries Monitoring Possible

Our Data Suggests Transhippment Involved in Refrigerated Cargo Vessel Just Sentenced to $5.9 Million and Jail Time for Carrying Illegal Sharks

Transshipment Report Refined

What Can We See When AIS Signals Disappear?

How Global Fishing Watch Contributed to the Creation of the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument

Transshipment: A Global Footprint Never Seen Before

Mystery Moves: What’s Up in the Pacific?

What’s Happening inside Motu Maha Marine Reserve?

Making the Cut–Creating Our List of Fishing Vessels

Deciphering Suspicious Behavior: Not Always What It Seems

Interview with Google’s Brian Sullivan

Fishing Fleet Goes Home for the Holidays

Mystery Solved: Where Albatrosses and Fishing Vessels Meet at Sea

Whaling off the map

Witness to a Crime?

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