Illegal Fishing You Can See from Space

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.

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.

Each year millions of sharks are inadvertently slaughtered by long-line fishing gear, and the decimation of top predator populations has detrimental effects on the greater ocean ecosystem. New tracking technology that allows researchers and institutions to follow the movements of sharks and overlay the data with that of commercial fishing boats is proving a promising way to help prevent bycatch as well as illegal fishing, and better protect shark populations.

"Ghost gear" describes the nets, lines, and other debris lost off the back of commercial fishing boats in staggering amounts each year, and it spells death for hundreds of thousands of marine animals and birds who get tangled in it. Previously, there was little financial incentive to pull this litter back out of the water, but a new public-private partnership called Fishing For Energy is paying fishers to gather up ghost gear and help recycle it, as well as developing new technologies to prevent bycatch and educating communities about the issue.

Local fisheries have been struggling to keep up with major manufacturers. Sustainable fishing practices have been countering that by creating Niche markets.

A growing number of governments, companies, and nonprofit organizations are working together with new technology and data to identify fishing vessels that are breaking laws and engaging in human rights violations. Using satellite imagery and tracking signals, for example, a philanthropic company and a nonprofit worked with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime to help the Ghanian navy arrest four vessels for illegal fishing practices. Technology by itself won’t stop forced labor and unregulated ships, but it can be helpful for cash-strapped governments looking to increase oversight of their fisheries.

While most other scientific research around the world has come to a halt, coronavirus research is flourishing as a global collaboration of scientists focuses on understanding the virus and finding a vaccine. Competition among scientists and countries is still fervent, but information is being shared across labs and borders more urgently and quickly than before.

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.

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.

The world's oceans are in serious trouble, facing threats of irreversible ecosystem damage from climate change and reckless human activity; and the scope of the problem is far too vast and complex for any single nation or entity to successfully address. The Our Ocean Conference has provided a platform where governments and companies are coming together to push for collective action, creating a healthy competition to provide solutions and raise resources, as well as a shared source of inspiration for change.