Dive News: Fishing Tracker Targets Trouble

Around the globe, countries with precious marine-life resources are enacting protections of their seas, but conservation dreams run head-on into reality when it comes to enforcement — many nations lack the resources to police illegal fishing over tens of thousands of square miles of open water.

But what if the average diver could help identify threats to those resources from his or her desktop?

That’s the idea behind a prototype technology called Global Fishing Watch, developed by Google, working with Oceana and mapping company Sky-Truth. Using satellite data and tracking devices already present on large boats, the technology isolates fishing boats based on recognizable patterns of movement and behavior. Online, users will be able to view where the tracked boats are operating at any given time.

While Global Fishing Watch can’t stop illegal fishing, it can make clearer where and when it is taking place, helping governments and conservation agencies decide where to put resources.

“Illegal fishing is something that we can hope to put a dent in with Global Fishing Watch,” Jackie Savitz, Oceana’s vice president for U.S. oceans, told The Wall Street Journal. “What is cool is the technology does most of the work.”