Global Fishing Watch is an independent, international not for profit organization. Originally set up through a collaboration between Oceana, an international ocean conservation organization, SkyTruth for satellite technology to protect the environment, and Google, who provide the big data processing tools, the vision of Global Fishing Watch is healthy and resilient oceans where transparent and effective governance of marine resources supports biodiversity and sustainable development.
Their mission is advancing ocean sustainability through increasing transparency, and they do this by showing data and near real-time tracking of global commercial fishing activity… for free. Within the next 10 years, they aim to track all large-scale fishing – some 300,000 boats responsible for about three-quarters of the global marine catch – and increase their ability to track small-scale fishing vessels. Given the exploitation of our seas, we need live transparency and this is a good starting point.
