IUU Fishing Archives - IUU Risk Intelligence

Illegal fishing detection using machine learning – Automation for the sake of private firm profits or genuine benefit in tracking dark vessels?

10/14/202209/15/2022 by Pramod Ganapathiraju

Illegal fishing detection technologies that use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ml) employ a variety of tools to detect vessel behaviour and determine whether a vessel is illegally fishing based on location, speed, size, Geo-location alerts, and image object detection software to generate threat assessment picture. The data that has been auto-tuned by MLS (machine learning software) is then sent to law enforcement to investigate dark vessel activities. MLS is based on the fact that each vessel has a unique id based on vessel identifiers and digital sensors such as AIS, Radar, and GSM software sharing data such as a vessel’s location, speed, and heading.

Evolution of the Fight against Illegal Fishing (IUU) – A Decade of Investments in Satellite Based Vessel Tracking Technologies

09/18/202210/24/2021 by Pramod Ganapathiraju

The essence of public reports on “IUU fishing” is often lost in translation. Private corporations, charitable trusts, and NGO joint ventures are exploiting satellite-based AIS signals to track illegal fishing vessels. Virtually every NGO backed startups have a AIS based satellite-tracking project to track illegal vessels, or use AI and machine learning to automate AIS tracking of fishing fleet. NGOs and startups backed by foundations in Europe and USA are also the biggest recipients of government and private charitable donations for deploying satellite based tracking software technologies.

The Moral Dilemma of Developing Countries in the fight against Illegal Fishing

09/18/202210/22/2021 by Pramod Ganapathiraju

Illegal fishing is a major maritime threat in most developing countries IUU fishing threatens the livelihoods and food security of populations that rely on fisheries. Coastal populations in particular, rely on the ocean for both subsistence livelihood and economic opportunities, thus it’s critical that fish stocks (food fish – sardines in West Africa) be managed in … Read more

Historic Verdict in Ecuador – Federal Prosecutor seizes Chinese Reefer Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999 worth US$ 6.1 million

09/18/202205/24/2019 by Pramod Ganapathiraju

The National Court of Ecuador has accepted “Appeal of Cassation” against Chinese Reefer “Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999” for transporting cargo caught through illegal fishing in Galapagos waters. The Court of Cassation of the Ecuador National Court of Justice, unanimously, accepted the appeal filed by the Prosecutor’s Office and ordered the confiscation of the Chinese … Read more

U.S. Seafood Import Monitoring Program – Viable or Unviable?

09/12/202201/09/2017 by Pramod Ganapathiraju

The U.S. seafood traceability programme (SIMP) attempts to improve data gathering on “harvest, landing, and chain of custody of specific fish and fish products imported into the U.S. that are vulnerable to IUU fishing and seafood fraud” (NOAA 2016). SIMP would require traceability from harvest to first U.S. port of entry.

3 Chinese squid jiggers in South African waters – Illegal fishing or innocent passage ?

09/12/202205/29/2016 by Pramod Ganapathiraju

Fu Yuan Yu fishing fleet – built in China to exploit unregulated squid and tuna stocks on the high seas In recent months, the Fu Yuan Yu fleet has come into focus for illegal tuna fishing in the southern Indian Ocean. Back in March this year i wrote about the Fu Yuan Yu tuna fleet … Read more

Thailand and the UN – Port State Measures Agreement: Will Accession facilitate more inspections at Thai ports?

09/12/202205/11/2016 by Pramod Ganapathiraju

Thailand is a major player in global seafood trade and processing of fishery products. Among the major fish producer countries Thailand was ranked 14 in 2012 with capture fisheries landings of more than 1.6 million tonnes. However, Thailand exhibits its dominance as the third largest exporter of seafood in the world (8.1% of the global … Read more

The Fu Yuan Yu fleet – Illegal Chinese driftnet activities on the high seas

09/14/202203/18/2016 by Pramod Ganapathiraju

In January 2016, the Sea Shepherd’s patrol vessel “Steve Irwin” detected a fleet of six longliners fishing on the high seas in a remote part of southern Indian Ocean. It is rare to see tuna vessels fishing in such remote location so “Steve Irwin” pursued the fleet it saw on its radar and intercepted one … Read more

Do Americans really care if it is Alaska pollock or Russian pollock ?

09/16/202201/22/2016 by Pramod Ganapathiraju

New U.S. Federal Rule on acceptable market names could prevent mislabeling of pollock caught in Alaska (USA) and Russian waters. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently updated its list of acceptable market names for seafood caught in U.S. waters. The common name is the prevalent and often used for selling seafood to consumers. FDA … Read more

Stewardship through transparency – Implementation of IMO number for the EU fishing fleet

09/16/202201/21/2016 by Pramod Ganapathiraju

The European Commission has taken several steps over the past few years to improve transparency for foreign and EU flagged fishing vessels operating worldwide. The first step was the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 of 29 September 2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU Regulation). The … Read more