Shining a Light on Fishing: FAQ about Global Fishing Watch

On Friday, November 15 at the IUCN World Parks Congress in Sydney, SkyTruth, Oceana, and Google announced a global technology partnership to map all of the trackable fishing activity in the ocean. Global Fishing Watch is a technology platform that uses AIS (Automatic Identification System) data to shine a light on the global commercial fishing fleet. We’re thrilled to be able to share our vision for using satellite data to bring transparency to the global overfishing crisis, and to have Oceana and Google’s support to make it all possible. 

Check out the video below to find out just what Global Fishing Watch is all about, then we’ll address some of the most burning questions people have been asking…

1. Can’t fishing vessels just turn their AIS off? Sure, but that is certain to draw attention, like wearing a trenchcoat and sunglasses on a hot summer day. Global Fishing Watch will enable us to flag suspicious behaviors like suddenly disappearing, or appearing as if from nowhere, or jumping 1,000 miles and appearing to fish in the middle of Asia. It will give us the opportunity to identify who may have something to hide, and who is operating openly and transparently.

Secondly, more countries and intergovernmental agencies like Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) are requiring AIS use within their waters, so more fishing vessels will be legally compelled to use AIS in the coming years.  Many already are.  For example, as of May 2014, all European Union-flagged fishing vessels over 15 meters in length are required to use AIS.

Perhaps most importantly, AIS was primarily designed as a safety mechanism to help avoid collisions at sea. Turning off your AIS just to avoid being tracked puts your vessel and crew at risk of being run down by a cargo ship in the middle of the night. 

2. Do “pirate” fishing vessels that engage in Illegal, Unregulated, Unreported (IUU) fishing even use AIS at all?  Nearly any large vessel will be expected to use AIS when navigating busy coastal waters, particularly approaching or leaving port. A longliner might switch off its AIS a few hours after it leaves the harbor, and might remain “invisible” for months, but as they return to port we’ll likely see them when they turn their AIS back on. 

But we think the most important purpose for Global Fishing Watch is to provide an easy way for fishing vessel operators to show the world they are fishing legally. By consistently using an AIS transponder, those operators might be able to fetch a higher price for their catch — or get access to markets that some day may be closed to any fishing vessel that doesn’t meet this basic transparency standard. As more vessels voluntarily use AIS to show they are operating legitimately, the size of the “dark fleet” will steadily shrink — allowing the authorities to focus their attention and resources more effectively on those vessels who continue to operate in the shadows.

3. Won’t this just show everyone where the fish are? Not really. Commercial fishing fleets are already using sophisticated technology like helicopters, tracking beacons, fish-finding sonar, and even fish forecasts based on satellite data to find and catch every fish they can.  Global Fishing Watch shows where fishing activity happened; it doesn’t predict where fish are likely to be in the future.

4. Is listening in on AIS signals an invasion of privacy? No. AIS was designed to be an open, public communications tool.  Vessels that use AIS are voluntarily making themselves trackable to everyone around them.  Monitoring vessel activity through satellite AIS is already a well-established practice in the shipping, insurance, and commodities industries.  

Global Fishing Watch shows commercial resource extraction that takes place on the open ocean, not on private property. Our fisheries are a common resource, whether on the high seas that belong to everyone, or in the sovereign waters of individual nations.

5. So, where is the map? What we’ve announced is a prototype, so that the public, researchers, conservation groups, and funders can see what is now possible using AIS data. We are still developing the software and the engineering framework so that we can make this available to everyone, and do so with near real-time data. We will invite partners to apply to beta-test the program in early 2015, and anticipate a full public release by late 2015. Stay tuned!