By: Hope Wilkos, Writer
Fishing is a sport, a way of life and a pastime all wrapped into one. Whether it be for the thrill of the game or an individual’s livelihood, one stark fact holds true. Right now, as we speak, oceans all across the world are in danger because of global and illegal overfishing and habitat destruction.
Technological advancement has now guided us into the future where anything is possible and our laptops have become an extremely powerful tool. There is one particular project that is receiving universal attention and tremendous accolades and it is known as GLOBAL FISHING WATCH (globalfishingwatch.org) All it takes is an internet connection to put you in control. With the touch of the mouse, it enables viewers to see fishing activity anywhere in the oceans near real-time. This is totally free to those who are interested and take a concerned stance on the topic.
- Citizens can see for themselves how their fisheries are being effectively managed and hold leaders accountable for long-term sustainability.
- Seafood suppliers can monitor the vessels they buy fish from.
- Journalists and the public can act as watchdogs to improve the sustainable management of global fisheries.
- Responsible fishermen can show they are adhering to the law.
- Researchers can address important fishery management questions.
Many famous ocean advocates are weighing in on what this new project stands for. Here are just some of the views and opinions.
“Global Fishing Watch is a godsend to ocean conservation. It is the only remote vessel tracking system that is global and publicly available. This is the beginning of the end of illegal fishing.”
– Dr. Enric Sala, Explorer-in-Residence, National Geographic Society
“Global Fishing Watch is a transformative tool to identify fishing activity and verify fleets are fishing both sustainably and responsibly.”
– Alexandra Cousteau, Ocean Advocate
“Global Fishing Watch will be a groundbreaking tool to help ensure that fishers are following the rules that govern where and when they can fish. As a result, every scientist, government and ocean advocate will be well equipped with information to help reverse current trends and rebuild ocean abundance.”
– Dr. Daniel Pauly, Professor, Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries & Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia
As the audience continues to grow in magnitude and the platform develops over time, new features will begin to be added to GLOBAL FISHING WATCH, making it much more efficient.
Success is only a stone’s throw away for GLOBAL FISHING WATCH with the devoted assistance of others. Funding partners for the initiative include such powerful names as Oceana (oceana.org), Skytruth (skytruth.org), Google (google.com) and the Leo DiCaprio Foundation (leodicaprio.org). With the gathering of data on a consistent basis, scientists and some of the world’s leading researchers are working together to discover solutions that will prove to be critical to marine conservation, global economics and human welfare.
It is all about transparency and collaboration, the core values that will carry the project into eternity. Burning questions such as, “What role does fishing play in the physical, biological, economic and political factors of the ocean?” will be answered. Research participants include Duke University’s Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, National Geographic: Pristine Seas, Stanford University and many other universities all across the nation and into places like British Columbia.
The statistics are staggering. Satellites have enabled the tracking of over 200,000+ vessels of which 35,000 are known to be commercial fishing boats. The satellites record the broadcasts and then transmit the information to Earth. Through cloud computing, 22+ million data points continue to be added for tracking purposes. It is the work of GLOBAL FISHING WATCH to process this data, identify the fishing vessels and see where they are fishing. Over 37+ billion AIS messages have been processed and so far 4.5+ years of data has been collected.
Then comes the portion where you, as the concerned public, are involved. You are invited to log in to the website and see for yourself. Your responsibility entails informing and educating and then handing it off to the volunteers of GLOBAL FISHING WATCH to accomplish the rest and lead the way to sustainable and healthy oceans, the way that Mother Nature intended.
