June 8, 2017 โ This week, at the United Nationโs Ocean Conference, the Republic of Indonesia becomes the first nation ever to publish Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data revealing the location and activity of its commercial fishing fleet. The new data being made public on the Global Fishing Watch public mapping platform reveals commercial fishing in Indonesian waters and areas of the Indian Ocean where it had previously been invisible to the public and other nations.
Susi Pudjiastuti, the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Affairs for the Republic of Indonesia, is taking a bold step toward increasing transparency in her countryโs fishing industry. Today she urges other nations to do the same.
โIllegal fishing is an international problem, and countering it requires cross border cooperation between countries,โ says Minister Susi. โI urge all nations to join me in sharing their vessel monitoring data with Global Fishing Watch. Together, we can begin a new era in transparency to end illegal and unreported fishing.โ
Also at the UN Oceanโs Conference, Global Fishing Watch has committed to host any countryโs VMS data, calling on other governments to follow Indonesiaโs lead. โWe believe publicly shared VMS will become a powerful new standard for transparent operation in commercial fishing,โ says Paul Woods, Global Fishing Watch CEO and Chief Technology Officer for SkyTruth, a founding partner of Global Fishing Watch along with Oceana and Google. โSkyTruth has been collaborating with the Indonesian government for the past two years to really understand their VMS data and find new ways for VMS to enhance their fisheries management.โ
Working closely with Oceana toward a united goal of transparency at sea, Peru becomes the first nation to follow Indonesiaโs lead. Vice Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Hector Soldi, announced Peruโs intent to publicly share their VMS data in Global Fishing Watch.
โWe applaud the commitments made by Peru and Indonesia to publish their previously private vessel tracking data and encourage other countries to follow their lead,โ said Jacqueline Savitz, Senior Vice President for the United States and Global Fishing Watch at Oceana. โTogether, with forward-thinking governments like these, we can bring even greater transparency to the oceans. By publishing fishing data and using Global Fishing Watch, governments and citizens can unite to help combat illegal fishing worldwide. With more eyes on the ocean, there are fewer places for illegal fishers to hide.โ