Speaker Background & Ocean Challenges

• Former British Royal Navy officer, 30 years service across all oceans
• Witnessed "wild west" conditions on high seas
• Observed rogue fishing operations extracting massive fish quantities
• 1/5 of seafood caught illegally or unreported
• Illegal fishing crime worth $23.5 billion annually
• Impacts: skews science, affects fishery sustainability, threatens ocean health, harms millions in poorer countries
• Additional threats: undetected oil spills, unmonitored shipping growth, oil/gas exploration, aquaculture expansion
• Ocean already stressed by climate change

Technology Solution: Global Fishing Watch

• Core principle: "if you can't see it, you can't manage it"
• Space-based monitoring using thousands of satellites
• GPS location data + machine learning = first live stream map of industrial fishing fleet
• Currently monitors 70,000 vessels
• Information made public and freely available worldwide

North Korea Case Study

• Partners in Japan/South Korea reported suspected illegal fishing in North Korean waters
• Violated UN sanctions
• Initial GPS data showed minimal fishing activity
• "Dark vessels" not sharing GPS location data
• Used satellite-based radar and optical imagery
• Revealed armada of almost 1,000 vessels
• One of largest illegal fishing cases ever documented
• Human impact: smaller North Korean boats pushed further out to sea
• Hundreds capsized, crews found starving/dead on Japanese shores
• Public findings compelled authorities to act
• Result: 75% drop in illegal fishing in region, hundreds fewer vessels washing ashore

Future Vision: Complete Ocean Mapping

• Goal: create dynamic, complete map of all industrial ocean activity
• Make freely available to everyone
• Using GPS data + millions of gigabytes satellite imagery
• AI to map/monitor 1+ million ocean-going vessels
• Coverage includes:
  • Entire industrial fishing fleet
  • Dark vessels
  • Hundreds of thousands cargo vessels
  • Tens of thousands oil/gas structures
  • Aquaculture farms
  • Wind farms

Applications & Impact

• Conservationists: protect critical habitats
• National Geographic Pristine Seas: using data to work with governments/communities
• Seven marine parks protected with combined area 2x California size
• Researchers: advance ocean science
• Media/campaigners/public: powerful knowledge about sea activity
• Timing critical: new treaty for ocean life conservation and marine protected areas
• 200 countries committed to protecting 30% of ocean by 2030
• Tools needed to uphold commitments

Ocean Importance & Call to Action

• All life on Earth depends on ocean
• Provides oxygen, regulates climate, feeds billions
• Ocean resources not inexhaustible
• Free, open access monitoring system for entire ocean
• End pirate fishing, transform ocean management for common good