"New Maps and Studies Expose the Vast 'Dark Fleet' of Industrial Activity in Crowded Oceans"

A study by Global Fishing Watch, published in Nature, utilized satellite imagery and machine learning to reveal that a significant portion of the global fishing industry operates outside of public tracking systems, with about three-fourths of industrial fishing vessels and nearly a third of transport and energy vessels not publicly tracked. The analysis of two petabytes of orbital imagery from 2017-2021 showed a substantial underrepresentation of Asian fishing activities in public data, with satellite data indicating that Asia, particularly China, accounts for a much larger share of global fishing than previously thought. This research highlights the need for better tracking and data sharing to inform policy and protect marine resources, including efforts to monitor fishing in protected areas like the Galapagos Islands.