'Thinking how traffickers think': Study uses AI to detect marine wildlife smuggling

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.

The Nez Perce Tribe is installing solar panels on homes and community buildings across their reservation with the goal of producing enough energy to replace the hydroelectric dams on the Snake River responsible for the diminishing salmon and steelhead populations.

NIBIN, the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, uses imaging technology to help law enforcement agencies solve gun-related crimes faster by identifying and linking bullet casings found at different crime scenes. With 280 U.S. agencies using NIBIN, and a traveling van with portable technology that supports high-crime areas, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimates NIBIN produced 189,000 investigation leads in 2022.

The conservation organization Paso Pacifico "InvestEggator" program uses a set of fake sea turtle eggs to track the illegal trade of the eggs after they are snatched from nests on Costa Rica beaches. Satellite tags in the decoy eggs were tracked to mostly local sites where the eggs were then sold. This intelligence will help conservationists target trafficking enforcement and deterrence campaigns geographically. The illegal trade in green and olive ridley turtle eggs is a threat to the turtle populations, but previous enforcement aimed at those who poached the nests did little to solve the problem.

Traditionally, whales have been studied through research vessels, which are hard to maneuver, and costly to make. However, drones with the ability to capture a whale’s snot, are providing a much easier, and cheaper alternative to whale research.

In recent years, advances in technologies such as genetics testing, forensic sciences, and online database management have allowed governments and organizations to tackle poaching and the illegal trade of wildlife at a whole new level. Where before law enforcement generally focused on capturing poachers and traders red-handed - usually resulting in the arrest of players low down on the chain - technology is helping investigators target the ringleaders and instigate preventative, rather than reactionary, measures.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation worked to restore extinct Chinook salmon populations by building their own fish hatchery, establishing legislation, and creating a consensus-based advisory committee that brings government, agriculture, business, and conservation groups together to coordinate water management. Salmon returns have dramatically increased from about 60 fish in 2023 to over 900 in 2025.

Seeking to protect the endangered vaquita, a charity in San Felipe, Mexico, is encouraging fishers who poach totoaba, another endangered species, to swap their gillnets for cimbra. The hook-and-line style fishing equipment allows them to target totoaba that are worth more, meaning they can catch less while making the same or more income and keep other species out of the often harmful nets.

The Okanagan Nation Alliance leads a Fish in Schools program that donates fish spawn and the equipment to raise them to elementary and secondary schools near their territory. Thousands of fish raised by the students are released into local waterways during ceremonies at the end of the school year as a part of their efforts to bring salmon back to the area.

Communities in the United States are slowly replacing small culverts that alter the flow of streams and block the paths of migratory fish species with wider culverts and bridges, allowing the ecosystems to recover.