Washington, D.C., U.S.A.-based international nonprofit for ocean governance Global Fishing Watch recently launched a first-of-its-kind Vessel Tracking Best Practices Guide to help governments combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The 113-page guide is available via PDF on Global Fishing Watch's website, and was publicly shared by National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service of Chile National Director María Soledad Tapia at the 37th session of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's Committee on Fisheries (COFI) in Rome, Italy. In the guide, Global Fishing Watch provides more than 70 practical recommendations for vessel tracking systems, given that 75 percent of the world's industrial fishing vessels are currently not publicly tracked.
“The Vessel Tracking Best Practices Guide does more than help strengthen national systems,” Global Fishing Watch interim Co-Chief Policy and Program Officer Michele Kuruc said in a release. “By identifying best practices, it advances a global conversation about greater harmonization of vessel tracking and recognizes that shared approaches can make cooperation, transparency and enforcement far more effective.”
Different technologies, such as automatic identification systems (AIS) and vessel monitoring systems (VMS) have existed for several decades, the organization said, but a lack of internationally recognized standards has led to a lack of enforcement. Additionally, U.S.-based approaches vary state by state, further fragmenting tracking systems. To mitigate this, Global Fishing Watch created the guide with experience from tracking more than 120,000 worldwide vessels using integrated systems such as AIS and VMS.
“Vessels operate across maritime boundaries, but the regulatory requirements for tracking them remain largely fragmented. That creates operational bottlenecks – gaps in information precisely where cooperation is most important,” Kuruc said in the release. “This guide gives governments a common foundation for strengthening their own systems while opening the door to greater alignment internationally. More consistent standards would make it easier to share data, strengthen oversight and ensure that vessels cannot exploit the gaps between jurisdictions.”
AIS is an open system that broadcasts information about vessel identity, position, speed, and course primarily for navigation support and collision avoidance, while VMS works for fisheries management and regulatory oversight by enabling monitoring.
Global Fishing Watch said modernizing tracking architecture, focusing on sustainable financing models, maintaining transparency across regions, allowing for legal prosecution, relying on Artificial Intelligence and automated analytics, and multi-national cooperation will lead to a safer, more transparent ocean governance system.
Global Fishing Watch Director of Program Initiatives Charles Kilgour said that allowing for vessel tracking systems to operate only helps ocean governance, because it further protects Marine Protected Areas (MPA), supports maritime security, aids in search and rescue operations, strengthens seafood traceability, helps identify labor violations, and aids climate and biodiversity measures.
“Effective vessel tracking isn’t simply about putting a device on a vessel and watching a dot move across a map,” Kilgour said in the release. “It requires the technology, data, laws, financing, and people behind those systems to work together. This guide gives governments a critical framework to make that transition, turning vessel tracking from a basic monitoring requirement into a powerful tool for greater ocean transparency and better ocean governance.”
The guide further elaborates on improvements to VMS and AIS once implemented, such as increasing the frequency of VMS monitoring efforts. Most importantly, Global Fishing Watch stressed the importance of multinational participation through a single best practice, so initiatives are both supported and followed state-by-state.
The organization also offers digital tools on its website, such as interactive maps, live-time portals for MPAs, and tools for tracking vessel profiles.
“Vessel tracking has enormous potential, but we will only realize its full value when systems can work together across borders,” Kuruc said in the release. “Common standards can help turn today’s fragmented landscape into a more connected global system that gives governments better information, strengthens accountability and makes it harder for illegal activity to disappear between jurisdictions.”
