A Faster Way to Find Illicit Fins

A space-based initiative called Global Fishing Watch is using satellite imagery and data to hold companies accountable to their promise of providing sustainable sourced seafood. While the volume of data and cost of obtaining it can be a challenge, the organization has partnered with key collaborators to help with the effort. Countries like Indonesia and Panama are working with them to stop illegal fishing.

Illegal fishing is a grave concern that not only threatens to destroy the ocean's ecosystem but the livelihoods of billions of people around the world who depend on stable fish populations for food. Now, software developed in a partnership between Vulcan - a private Seattle-based tech firm - and Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization allows law enforcement to quickly analyze suspicious patterns from the transponders of thousands of ships at a time, using special algorithms that automatically detect is a ship is a high-risk for criminal activity.

Despite humanity's shared need for healthy oceans and marine biodiversity to support life as we know it, there is no central regulatory body able to protect the massive, critical swaths of ocean beyond any one country's marine borders, where pollution and climate change are proving disastrous to the ecosystem. But as the effects of the changing oceans become more prevalent to those on land, a few determined groups are slowly bringing together various governing bodies to create reserves and pass key legislation to hopefully give our oceans - and our planet - a chance.

Lobster is a crucial economic resource in New England, but entanglements with the fishing line from lobster traps are a major cause of death for endangered North Atlantic right whales. Scientists and lobstermen are testing ropeless, on-demand gear that minimizes the risk for whales and allows fishing to continue in areas that would otherwise be closed for months as the whales pass through.

In partnership with Indigenous-led fisheries, researchers in British Columbia deployed an artificial intelligence system to automate the counting of Pacific salmon during their migration. The AI-based tool, which analyzes underwater video, can identify some species of fish with 90 percent accuracy, and Indigenous stewards who participated in the pilot project said not having to count salmon manually freed them up for other important projects.

After climate change led to a declining fish catch, fishermen in Tamil Nadu experimented with artificial reefs to boost biodiversity that would provide fishermen with a better catch. Artificial reefs can serve many purposes, but it must identify the needs of the community before it can be successfully implemented. Only a year later nearly 60 concrete structures have been built around the city and fishermen report bigger catches.

The world's oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which is a positive thing in the face of climate change for those living on land, but can harm the animals that rely on certain acidification levels of ocean waters. When it became apparent off the coasts of Oregon and Washington that oysters and other sea life with a shell or a skeleton were suffering the ramifications, researchers created a sensor that could detect acidification levels that could warn oyster growers of potentially harmful areas.

Efforts to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing also make fishermen safer at sea. Vessel Monitoring Mechanisms (VMM) and electronic catch documentation (eCDT) track the origin of fish headed to market, part of an international effort to ensure sustainable and equitable practices. Data transmission also makes fishermen safer, relaying their locations from hundreds of miles out at sea. In the Philippines, a partnership between Futuristic Aviation and Maritime Enterprise (FAME) and USAID Oceans and Fisheries Partnership helps cover subscription fees for FAME radio transmitter service.

Fishermen, scientists, and conservationists in California are teaming up to prevent more humpback whale deaths due to tapping Dungeness crabs that are used in markets and restaurants. The number of whale entanglements from fishing gear and ropes on the West Coast has increased over the years. A new technology known as “ropeless gear” shows promise, which uses acoustics to retrieve traps off the ocean floor, but the cost of the device and other challenges remain. “It’s a great, great step forwards — particularly from the perspective of the whale,” says an attorney from the Center for Biological Diversity.

Fishermen are attaching LED lights to the gillnets they use to trap fish to ward off unintended captures like turtles, dolphins, and sea lions. The lights warn the wildlife that something is there so they don’t get caught and has led to global decreases, as much as 60%, in the amount of sea turtles accidentally trapped. In order to increase accessibility to this response, organizations like the World Wildlife Foundation and governments are partnering with scientists to create subsidies.