Monitoring the fish population could prevent overfishing. Where industrial fishing is concerned, however, there is still room for improvement.
Using satellite images and vessel GPS trackers, a US-based non-profit organisation collated 2 million gigabytes of data spanning the years 2017-2021.
Data harnessed, in turn, to train an artificial intelligence that could map vessel activities and offshore infrastructure such as wind turbines and oil rigs.
Turns out around 75% of industrial fishing vessels were going untracked, and some were even venturing into protected waters. Some 25% of freighters and oil tankers were also officially unaccounted for.
The new observation technology could help prevent illegal fishing, while also holding those responsible for greenhouse emissions or oil spills accountable for their actions.
