Global Fishing Watch Inc

EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE OF MARINE RESOURCES IN SUPPORT OF BIODIVERSITY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.

DURING THE 2021 YEAR REPORTED IN THIS FORM 990, GLOBAL FISHING WATCH MADE POSITIVE STRIDES IN ITS MISSION OF ADVANCING OCEAN SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH INCREASING TRANSPARENCY.HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:-- LAUNCHED THE NEXT GENERATION OF OUR FLAGSHIP MAP, CHANGING THE ABILITY TO ACCESS, ANALYZE AND DOWNLOAD DATA ON HUMAN ACTIVITY AT SEA, AND ITS IMPACTS.CONTINUED ON PAGE 48, SCHEDULE O-- LAUNCHED MARINE MANAGER PORTAL, A NEW PUBLIC TOOL TO SUPPORT THE EFFECTIVE DESIGN, MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH DONA BERTARELLI AND SUPPORTED BY BLOOMBERG VIBRANT OCEANS INITIATIVE, DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES AND OCEANS CANADA AND THE NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST.-- SECURED TWO NEW VMS TRANSPARENCY PARTNERSHIPS WITH BRAZIL AND BELIZE; VESSEL TRACKING DATA FROM BRAZIL, ECUADOR AND COSTA RICA ADDED TO THE GFW MAP. SIGNED CAPACITY BUILDING MOU WITH BENIN TO SUPPORT THEIR PROGRESS TOWARD VMS SYSTEM AND DATA SHARING.-- ADVANCED VMS DATA SHARING MOUS WITH THE REPUBLIC OF MARSHALL ISLANDS, SENEGAL, GABON AND GUINEA, NOW UNDER DRAFT AND REVIEW.-- SUBMITTED AND/OR PUBLISHED SIX RESEARCH PAPERS IN SCIENTIC JOURNALS.-- ESTABLISHED A JOINT ANALYSIS CELL, OR JAC, WITH TRYGG MAT TRACKING (TMT) AND THE INTERNATIONAL MONITORING, CONTROL, AND SURVEILLANCE (IMCS) NETWORK TO EXTEND REACH AND IMPACT OF SHARED DATA AND ANALYTICAL CAPABILITIES.-- LAUNCHED PILOT PROJECTS: PARTNERED WITH THE OCEAN RISK AND RESILIENCE ACTION ALLIANCE TO CREATE A RISK ASSESSMENT TOOL TO HELP INSURERS IDENTIFY VESSELS AT RISK OF ILLEGAL, UNREPORTED AND UNREGULATED SHING; INITIATED NEW TECHNOLOGY, KNOWN AS VESSEL VIEWER, TO STRENGTHEN PORT CONTROLS IN WEST AFRICA.-- SHARED OUR VESSEL TRACKING DATA WITH WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE'S OCEAN WATCH PLATFORM, THE FIRST TO USE OUR APIS THAT ALLOW OUR DATA TO BE AUTOMATICALLY DISPLAYED WITHIN OTHER SYSTEMS, OPENING THE DOOR TO NEW AND WIDER REACH AND IMPACT OF OUR WORK. 2021 WAS AN AMBITIOUS AND REWARDING YEAR WITH THE DEVELOPMENT AND RELEASE OF FOUR MAJOR PRODUCTS, THREE VMS DATA LAYERS, ONE SMALL-SCALE SHERIES PORTAL, FIVE DATASETS, AND MORE THAN 30 NEW FEATURES. HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:-- MARINE MANAGER PORTAL. IN MAY 2021, THE PORTAL WAS LAUNCHED WITH FIVE PILOT SITES INCLUDING GALAPAGOS, GUYANA, ASCENSION ISLAND, TRISTAN DA CUNHA AND NIUE. THE PORTAL'S FOUNDING FUNDER, DONA BERTARELLI, WAS JOINED BY BLOOMBERG VIBRANT OCEANS INITIATIVE, DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES AND OCEANS CANADA AND THE NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST. THE MARINE MANAGER PORTAL WAS FORMALLY ENDORSED AS A DECADE ACTION BY THE UNITED NATIONS DECADE OF OCEAN SCIENCE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.-- FISHING MAP (VERSION 3.0). RELEASED IN JULY 2021, THE UPDATED MAP REPRESENTS THE CULMINATION OF A MULTI-YEAR PROJECT TO REVOLUTIONIZE THE PROCESSING AND VISUALIZATION OF DYNAMIC OCEAN DATA THROUGH AN IN-HOUSE TECHNOLOGY CALLED "4WINGS." THIS TECHNOLOGY ENABLES STAKEHOLDERS TO ACCESS OUR DATA MORE EFFICIENTLY THROUGH RESPONSIVE AND ADAPTIVE FUNCTIONALITY, WHICH HELPS TO PROCESS AND VISUALIZE BILLIONS OF DATA POINTS. THE WORK WAS DRIVEN BY THE NEED TO SUPPORT THE MAP'S MOVE FROM ONLY A VISUALIZATION TOOL TO A VISUALIZATION AND ANALYSIS TOOL. PREVIOUSLY, ANALYSTS AND RESEARCHERS WEREN'T OFTEN USING THE MAP, BUT DOWNLOADING OUR DATA FROM OUR WEBSITE TO COMPLETE THEIR ANALYSES. THIS OFTEN REQUIRED COMPLEX AND TIME CONSUMING DATA PROCESSING. NOW THAT ALL DATA IS GRIDDED TO THE MAP USING OUR 4WINGS TECHNOLOGY, WE ARE EMPOWERING MAP STAKEHOLDERS TO ACHIEVE A MUCH MORE ACCURATE UNDERSTANDING OF BOTH FISHING AND NON-FISHING ACTIVITY, INCLUDING THE ABILITY TO EASILY ADD VESSEL TRACKS TO THE MAP, AND ANALYZE OR DOWNLOAD ACTIVITY DATA BY AREA WHICH WASN'T POSSIBLE BEFORE.-- VESSEL VIEWER TOOL. WE ARE WORKING WITH TMT TO ASSIST STATES IN IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE FISHERIES CONTROLS, INCLUDING PORT STATE MEASURE IMPLEMENTATION. WE ARE COMBINING OUR DATA IN A SINGLE TOOL WHICH WILL PROVIDE AUTHORITIES WITH THE INFORMATION NEEDED TO MAKE A RAPID ASSESSMENT OF A FISHING VESSEL'S RECENT OPERATIONS AND COMPLIANCE RISK. THE TOOL, CALLED VESSEL VIEWER, WAS RELEASED IN SEPTEMBER AND MADE AVAILABLE TO PILOT COUNTRIES IN AFRICA, WHICH INCLUDE COTE D'IVOIRE, GHANA, SENEGAL AND KENYA.-- NEW LAYERS AND DATASETS. WE RELEASED SEVERAL NEW MAP LAYERS: VESSEL PRESENCE LAYER (WITH FISHING AND NON-FISHING ACTIVITY); VMS LAYERS FROM ECUADOR, BRAZIL AND COSTA RICA; AND FISHING ACTIVITY EVENTS, ENCOUNTERS AND SOON TO BE RELEASED NIGHTLIGHT DETECTIONS (VIIRS) CORRELATED WITH AIS. WE PUBLISHED STANDARD DATASETS INCLUDING ANNUAL FISHING EFFORT RASTER, ENCOUNTERS AND LOITERING EVENTS DATASET, AND RELEASED INTERNALLY THE AIS DISABLING EVENTS.