There's been quite an important development in the analysis of fisheries in the last few days. A collaboration between Oceana, Google and SkyTruth has led to the release of a prototype platform called Global Fishing Watch (more on this here). The software uses satellite data to track global commercial fisheries activity, and once the public version is released it will allow ordinary citizens the opportunity to track and view global fisheries dynamics as well as the ability to update and contribute with their own information.
We've seen in previous posts that at present, fisheries are considerably lacking in assessment and analysis. This lack of information has led to much of the uncertainty. Pereira et al. 2010 highlight that not only is this absence of information detrimental for understanding of present phenomena, it severely limits the quality of modelling that scientists construct in an effort to predict future changes.
While it is too early to say for certain, this new development might be able to remedy some of these problems. Satellite data will be able to provide large-scale views of fish migrations and stocks, and local data contributed by citizens may be able to provide more detailed, specific information. It's also a great idea to involve 'normal people' in this project, as the workload is too vast for a single governing body to do on its own. Furthermore, by getting involved local people could take an interest in issues and perhaps shift to more sustainable practices. They might also have superior knowledge and understanding of the local geography and fisheries dynamics.
I think this project is definitely something to keep an eye on and hopefully it will provide much needed data once the public version has been released.
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