Global Fishing Watch

Global Fishing Watch is the product of a partnership between Oceana, SkyTruth and Google that provides a never-before-seen view of commercial fishing in the ocean.

Hundreds of millions of people depend on the ocean for their livelihoods and approximately 3 billion rely on it for a primary food source. However, the world’s oceans are threatened by global overfishing, illegal fishing and habitat destruction. These threats could undermine the many benefits the oceans provide us with. Governments face a challenge in managing oceans sustainably. Sharing information more transparently on how our oceans are being used is essential to keeping our oceans healthy and bringing back abundance. Global Fishing Watch can drive science and innovation, and improve decision-making about the effective management of the world’s fisheries and oceans. It can harness the power of citizen engagement to help rebuild and maintain abundant oceans and will provide a powerful tool to show consumers where and by whom their fish are being caught.

Using this free and global tool, users can see the fishing activity of over 35,000 commercial fishing vessels all over the world in near real-time. Users can track and measure near real-time and historical commercial fishing activity using heat maps; play animated vessel tracks over time; view individual vessel tracks, country fleets, exclusive economic zones, marine protected areas and other data overlays; and more. By monitoring commercial fishing activity, users can identify suspicious vessels and report them to the authorities. Together, we can help protect important ocean ecosystems, help enforcement agencies prioritize problem areas and vessels of concern, help to deter illegal fishing and reduce overfishing, and facilitate transparency and promote honesty in seafood supply chains.

Note: The platform was designed so both experts and non-experts can see and measure fishing activity at a glance and track individual vessels over time.