Thank you for sharing! It seems that we still have some more marketing work to do...

Ghana calling for real-time High Seas MPA monitoring using GFW — and positioning as a regional maritime domain awareness hub. This is exactly right. The BBNJ treaty is only as good as the tools and capacity countries have to enforce it.

The map is the gateway drug. People come for the pretty visualization, then realize they can actually see which vessels are fishing in their country's waters. That's when it gets interesting — and when governments start calling us.

GFW Marine Manager platform showing vessel activity in the Eastern Tropical Pacific marine corridor

We've been thinking about packaging our ocean monitoring tools as a managed service for countries and MPAs — platform, training, recurring analysis. Working name: "Marine Manager Pro." From Paper Parks to Lasting Protection. Is that something people actually need? And who would pay for it?

The hard part starts now. Countries that committed to protecting the high seas need actual tools to do it — vessel tracking, activity monitoring, reporting that works at scale. That's what we've been building. Curious to see who steps up first.

We built GFW to track fishing vessels. Turns out the same tools work just as well on deep-sea mining research ships — and the data raises some questions about how much time those vessels actually spend where they say they are.

A vessel that turns off its AIS to avoid detection is usually still running its lights. VIIRS picks those up. We've been working toward this kind of sensor fusion for a while — it gets a lot harder to simply disappear.

This maps to what we see at @globalfishingwatch.org. Open data + open code + sustained infrastructure = compounding value. The catch: costs fall on those who build it while benefits accrue broadly. Funders take note.

h/t @andreast.bsky.social

explore.plos.org/open-science-economic-benefits

New report commissioned by PLOS finds GDP would be ~2% lower under closed research systems. The key finding: open science isn't just transparency — it's an economic multiplier when you build infrastructure that enables reuse at scale.

This was a really fun conversation with Eva van Heukelom. We talked about how vessel tracking went from being a niche data project to something that's reshaping how governments manage their oceans. If you want the short version: transparency works, but only when governments actually use the data.

Great experience meeting up with Grace Ekpu and the BBC Tech Now team in London for this. Cian Luck did a fantastic live demo of the map. Segment starts at 14:20.

Paper is open access:
academic.oup.com/icesjms/article/83/3/fsa...

Flagged by Cian Luck in our science channel — worth a read if you work on MPA enforcement design. cc @clairesj.bsky.social

This has real implications for monitoring. GFW invests a lot in helping patrol agencies find vessels of interest — that's the interception side.

But if the deterrence signal runs through flag state enforcement, the leverage point is upstream: at the license, the VMS requirement, the port.

What fishers said actually changed their behavior: Sri Lanka's domestic VMS mandate, their fisheries monitoring centers, and the threat of sanctions when vessels returned to port.

The enforcement that mattered wasn't happening on the water. It was happening in port.

The team (led by @kristianmetcalfe.bsky.social) combined AIS tracks of the patrol vessels with 189 interviews with Sri Lankan fishers.

Patrol vessel A was faster, more aggressive, intercepted 85% of captures. Vessel B barely showed up.

Statistical deterrence effect? None detected.

One patrol vessel in the Chagos MPA was 9× better at catching illegal fishing boats than the other. Neither one deterred illegal fishing.

I just came across this excellent new paper in ICES Journal of Marine Science with a compelling finding about how deterrence actually works.

The deep ocean is Earth’s last frontier — vast, unmapped, and home to species we haven’t yet discovered. Our latest In Conversation explores why transparency matters as deep-sea exploration expands, and how the updated Deep-Sea Mining Watch sheds light on activity offshore.

👉 https://bit.ly/44demEe

Friends, the Society for Conservation Biology - Marine Program is looking for a Science Officer.

As the most recent science officer, I am happy to chat with you about the role if you're considering running!

This #ClimateWeekNYC is our chance to flip the script and leverage AI for transparency. Only in this way can we help safeguard food, climate and marine biodiversity for future generations.

But here’s the catch: while the tech is ready, accountability isn’t automatic. Governments must take action - mandating public vessel tracking and putting transparency at the core of ocean governance.

By combining AI with satellite data, we can now:
✅ Track 100,000+ fishing vessels in near real time
✅ Expose illegal fishing and labor abuse at sea
✅ Predict CO₂ emissions from ships with high accuracy
✅ Support smarter planning for offshore wind and marine protection

AI Can Help Save the Ocean — If We Let It Artificial intelligence is already transforming ocean governance. Now it’s time for governments to use it.

Can AI be more than just a one-way ticket towards a dystopian future?

At Global Fishing Watch, we’re proving it can be a force for good. 🌊

👉 The question isn’t whether AI will shape the future. It’s whether we’ll use it to protect our planet. 🌍 #UNGA80 #ClimateWeekNYC #AIforGood

buff.ly/KXXLhdb

Forbes Sustainability Leaders 2025: Sustainability Across Sectors Forbes Sustainability Leaders List highlights global leaders combating the climate crisis across a range of sectors. See who made the list.

Congratulations to my good friend @johnamos.bsky.social on being named to the 2025 Forbes Sustainability Leaders list www.forbes.com/sites/elisab...

Brazil is using our Marine Manager platform to help oversee its coastline — turning complex ocean data into clear, actionable insights that can inform policy, guide energy decisions and protect marine areas.

Read more 👉 globalfishingwatch.org/article/braz...

#OpenData #OceanTransparency #Brazil

#NewPaper in @aaas.org finds that domestic fishing vessels account for the majority of port visits around the world.

Comprehensive inspections at port for both foreign and domestic fishing fleets are a key deterrent for #illegalfishing. https://stanford.io/45LXlB2

🔍 Next up for our Ask Global Fishing Watch series: Optical satellite imagery

Geospatial data scientist Zihan Wei explains how we use Sentinel-2 for broad offshore coverage and Planet imagery for near-shore activity, including small-scale fishing often missed. 🌊

👉 https://bit.ly/4mL9Q79

VinFast: A Stunning Comeback Winning At Home And In Southeast Asia

Vietnam is forging its own EV path. 🚗⚡In just 2 years, it leapt from 3% to over 50% EV share. Homegrown VinFast—once laughed off—is now #1, #2, and #3. Backed by tax breaks, 150k chargers, and national pride, this isn’t catch-up. It’s a regional S-curve explosion—and there’s plenty more to come. #EV

What are Tier 1, 2 and 3?

Who Should Pay for ESG Infrastructure? (SSIR) Foundations and nonprofits built the tools that companies now use for ESG reporting, brand credibility, and risk management. Is there a funding model for maintaining these tools so they remain credibl...

Nice piece in Stanford Social Innovation Review by discussing the work that Global Forest Watch (the "other GFW") and Global Fishing Watch are doing to find ways for industry to more directly support our open data work that helps industry to meet their ESG commitments ssir.org/articles/ent...

Underwater image of a sea lion hunting salema fish in the Galapagos Marine Reserve.

Why do some say marine protected areas are just “paper parks”? And are industrial fishers actually staying out of these no-fishing zones?

New in @science.org: We used AI + satellite radar to find out. doi.org/10.1126/scie...

#ScienceResearch #OceanConservation #OceanTransparency #30x30 #Fisheries