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Like any technology, artificial intelligence can be used for unpleasant things. However, researchers at the nonprofit Global Fishing Watch have uncovered a promising use case for leveraging AI to accurately track human activity in the ocean, as published in the journal Nature. A new study from the same group revealed that.
There are many things that have not been under the surveillance system’s radar for a long time. This includes so-called shadow fleets involved in illegal and unregulated fishing.
Marketplace’s Lily Jamali spoke to David Kruzma, director of research and innovation at Global Fishing Watch, about the effort. He said AI “gives us the information we need to better manage our oceans.”
Below is an edited transcript of their conversation.
David Kurdosma: About five years ago, we created the first-ever global map of fishing activity using ship transponders that broadcast their GPS locations. That was really exciting. But there was a big problem. It was unclear how many boats were not broadcasting their location. And I didn’t realize how much I was missing. What we’ve done in this study is take satellite images, literally take pictures of the ocean at scale, and count the number of boats. And what we found was truly surprising. Approximately three-quarters of large fishing vessels were previously invisible to our surveillance systems.
Lily Jamari: And artificial intelligence can help with some of that work. Can you explain how the research you are doing is enhanced by AI?
Kurotsuma: In other words, AI makes it possible to study these planets. Imagine an analyst sitting down and looking at one of these photos and being able to label where the boat is and match it to the GPS location. But with AI, we can do this at scale. And we processed about 2 million gigabytes of satellite imagery. We would need about 2,000 laptops to store all the data on computers. In turn, it will be possible to present a comprehensive picture of human activities in the world’s oceans.
Jamari: What surprised you when you took a closer look at what the activity was like?
Kurotsuma: Oh, there are so many surprises when you look at this data. The first is the amount of previously unmonitored fishing activity, particularly in South and Southeast Asia. But the other amazing thing is that you can see all the ocean energy development. What we’ve seen in the last five years is that the number of wind turbines has surpassed the number of offshore oil platforms, which is a very interesting milestone. Another interesting point is that fishing declined by 12% during the pandemic and has not recovered since then.
Jamari: And do you know why?
Kurotsuma: There are many reasons. Part of this may be due to reduced demand due to the pandemic, and another may be simply a long-term trend of declining catches. About 40 years ago, we reached a limit on the number of fish we could catch in the ocean. We’re catching as much fish as we did in the 1980s, so we can’t catch any more. In fact, a lower catch could actually result in the same amount of fish being caught and more profit for the fishermen. Therefore, the catch may decrease slightly. Meanwhile, offshore oil, offshore wind, and transportation are all growing rapidly. And while fishing has historically been the way humans have had the most impact on the ocean, all other types of industrial activity are catching up.
Jamari: What kind of effects can you expect from the use of AI analysis in this way?
Kurotsuma: One thing I want to be clear about is that this type of AI analysis is not a replacement for governments to share data. Governments have all kinds of information about what kind of fishing activity is going on, where oil development is happening, where wind development is happening, etc., but that information doesn’t necessarily mean It’s not publicly available. And sharing that information is very important. Artificial intelligence can fill that gap. It tells us where we need to help build maps and tells us where human activities are happening. It provides us with that global picture and shows us the information we need to better manage our oceans. Every time you breathe, you use oxygen produced by the ocean. The ocean accounts for half of life on Earth and provides the main food source for 1 billion people. And it’s badly managed. We need better information to manage this shared resource.
Jamari: How did you become so immersed in providing people with such resources?
Kurotsuma: Personally, I’m a researcher, so I’m excited about discoveries. I entered this field about 10 years ago due to the boom in satellite imagery and satellite data, and I saw the potential. And to be honest, the ocean was the most interesting space because it was the least discovered. This is an area where new maps still need to be created. And it’s really exciting to create those maps for the first time.
Learn more
Check out Global Fishing Watch’s interactive map here.
David Krusma said the maps reveal a “new industrial revolution” taking place on the high seas.
Some of the confirmed illegal fishing takes place in marine protected areas. Global Fishing Watch found an average of five fishing boats per week around the Galapagos Islands, and more than four times that number on the Great Barrier Reef off Australia. According to the Guardian, these are among the most closely monitored reserves in the world.
Kurzma hopes the more accurate maps his team is building will help track ocean degradation caused by greenhouse gas emissions and oil pollution.
Also important to note is that the largest cases of illegal fishing and “forced labor” occurred on vessels not using tracking devices.
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