Latest news with #PristineSeas
Scoop
6 days ago
- Science
- Scoop
New Research: Satellite Imagery Detects Illegal Fishing Activity, Shows Strict Protections Work
The first-of-its-kind study reveals that the worlds most strongly protected marine reserves successfully curb industrial fishing activity, offering a new way to assess fishing compliance and bridge blind spots in current monitoring methods. Washington, D.C. (July 24, 2025) — New peer-reviewed research in the journal Science demonstrates the power of strict legal bans against industrial fishing in marine protected areas (MPAs). The analysis — which combines satellite imagery and artificial intelligence technology to detect previously untraceable vessels — reveals that most of the globe's fully and highly protected MPAs successfully deter illegal fishing. The study is the first of its kind to demonstrate that the most strictly protected marine reserves are well respected and are not simply 'paper parks.' The study, 'Little-to-no industrial fishing occurs in fully and highly protected marine areas' finds that: 78.5% of the 1,380 MPAs studied had no commercial fishing activity; Of the MPAs where satellite images detected illegal fishing activity, 82% of them averaged less than 24 hours of activity per calendar year; Strongly protected MPAs had, on average, nine times fewer fishing vessels per square kilometer than unprotected coastal areas; and MPAs designated as strictly-protected with significant fishing activity included those in the Chagos Marine Reserve, the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (combined with the Great Barrier Reef Coast Marine Park), each with approximately 900 hours per year. 'Because strictly protected marine areas discourage illegal fishing, fishes are far more abundant within their boundaries, they produce more babies, and help replenish surrounding areas,' remarked Enric Sala, one of the study's co-authors, a National Geographic Explorer in Residence, and founder of Pristine Seas. 'In other words, the fishing industry benefits from following the rules.' Illegal fishing poses a significant global threat, jeopardising both the health of ocean ecosystems and the economic stability of the fishing industry. Scientific evidence shows that strictly protected MPAs restore marine life within their boundaries, improve local fishing, provide jobs and economic benefits, and build resilience against a warming ocean. But when MPAs are minimally or lightly protected, the benefits practically disappear. 'The ocean is no longer too big to watch. With cutting-edge satellites and AI, we're making illegal fishing visible and proving that strong marine protections work,' said Juan Mayorga, a scientist with Pristine Seas and co-author of the study. To arrive at their conclusions, researchers analysed five billion vessel positions from the Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), a GPS-based safety signal transmitted by many industrial fishing vessels, and paired this with satellite images generated by Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which can detect vessels regardless of weather or light conditions. The combination of the datasets — and the use of AI models developed by Global Fishing Watch — allowed researchers to detect the majority of fishing vessels over fifteen meters long, including so-called dark vessels that do not broadcast their location and often operate to evade detection. 'No single dataset can solve the challenge of monitoring fishing activity at sea; each has its blind spots,' asserted Mayorga. 'But when we combine them, their power emerges. By fusing AIS tracking with satellite radar imagery and AI, we are now much closer to the full picture of human activity across the ocean. That's especially important in the crown jewels of the ocean — the world's most strongly protected areas — where the stakes for enforcement and biodiversity are highest.' Researchers found that the AIS data missed almost 90% of SAR-based fishing vessel detections within these MPAs. Inaccurate data, limited resources and the vastness of the ocean have made effectively monitoring MPAs for industrial fishing a challenge. This groundbreaking methodology offers a powerful new way to assess fishing compliance and bridge blind spots in current monitoring methods, the authors found. 'By using satellites to track fishing vessels, countries can predict the locations of illegal activities and target patrol efforts, saving both manpower and money,' said Jennifer Raynor, the study's lead author and a professor of natural resource economics in UW–Madison's Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. A growing body of research shows that MPAs produce spillover of fishes and invertebrates that increases the catches of species from small and sedentary (lobsters, scallops) to large and migratory (tuna). A 2024 study revealed that fishing catch per unit effort increases, on average, 12% to 18% near the boundaries of large fully protected MPAs. 'Illegal fishing takes place in areas of the ocean set aside for protection, but using satellites we have found — for the first time ever — that the level of protection determines how much risk industrial fishers are willing to take on,' Sala remarked. 'Fully and highly marine protected areas discourage illegal fishing. The stricter the rules in place to conserve ocean areas, the more benefits nations receive — including more fish to be caught outside protected areas' boundaries.' National Geographic Pristine Seas Pristine Seas works with Indigenous and local communities, governments, and other partners to help protect vital places in the ocean using a unique combination of research, community engagement, policy work, and filmmaking. Since 2008, our program has conducted nearly 50 expeditions around the world and helped establish 30 marine reserves, spanning more than 6.9 million square kilometers of ocean. Pristine Seas is part of the global non-profit, the National Geographic Society. Our mission is driven by science and filmmaking — we are fully independent from National Geographic publishing and its media arm.
Scoop
6 days ago
- Science
- Scoop
New Research: Satellite Imagery Detects Illegal Fishing Activity, Shows Strict Protections Work
Washington, D.C. (July 24, 2025) — New peer-reviewed research in the journal Science demonstrates the power of strict legal bans against industrial fishing in marine protected areas (MPAs). The analysis — which combines satellite imagery and artificial intelligence technology to detect previously untraceable vessels — reveals that most of the globe's fully and highly protected MPAs successfully deter illegal fishing. The study is the first of its kind to demonstrate that the most strictly protected marine reserves are well respected and are not simply 'paper parks.' The study, 'Little-to-no industrial fishing occurs in fully and highly protected marine areas' finds that: 78.5% of the 1,380 MPAs studied had no commercial fishing activity; Of the MPAs where satellite images detected illegal fishing activity, 82% of them averaged less than 24 hours of activity per calendar year; Strongly protected MPAs had, on average, nine times fewer fishing vessels per square kilometer than unprotected coastal areas; and MPAs designated as strictly-protected with significant fishing activity included those in the Chagos Marine Reserve, the South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (combined with the Great Barrier Reef Coast Marine Park), each with approximately 900 hours per year. 'Because strictly protected marine areas discourage illegal fishing, fishes are far more abundant within their boundaries, they produce more babies, and help replenish surrounding areas,' remarked Enric Sala, one of the study's co-authors, a National Geographic Explorer in Residence, and founder of Pristine Seas. 'In other words, the fishing industry benefits from following the rules.' Illegal fishing poses a significant global threat, jeopardising both the health of ocean ecosystems and the economic stability of the fishing industry. Scientific evidence shows that strictly protected MPAs restore marine life within their boundaries, improve local fishing, provide jobs and economic benefits, and build resilience against a warming ocean. But when MPAs are minimally or lightly protected, the benefits practically disappear. 'The ocean is no longer too big to watch. With cutting-edge satellites and AI, we're making illegal fishing visible and proving that strong marine protections work,' said Juan Mayorga, a scientist with Pristine Seas and co-author of the study. To arrive at their conclusions, researchers analysed five billion vessel positions from the Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), a GPS-based safety signal transmitted by many industrial fishing vessels, and paired this with satellite images generated by Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), which can detect vessels regardless of weather or light conditions. The combination of the datasets — and the use of AI models developed by Global Fishing Watch — allowed researchers to detect the majority of fishing vessels over fifteen meters long, including so-called dark vessels that do not broadcast their location and often operate to evade detection. 'No single dataset can solve the challenge of monitoring fishing activity at sea; each has its blind spots,' asserted Mayorga. 'But when we combine them, their power emerges. By fusing AIS tracking with satellite radar imagery and AI, we are now much closer to the full picture of human activity across the ocean. That's especially important in the crown jewels of the ocean — the world's most strongly protected areas — where the stakes for enforcement and biodiversity are highest.' Researchers found that the AIS data missed almost 90% of SAR-based fishing vessel detections within these MPAs. Inaccurate data, limited resources and the vastness of the ocean have made effectively monitoring MPAs for industrial fishing a challenge. This groundbreaking methodology offers a powerful new way to assess fishing compliance and bridge blind spots in current monitoring methods, the authors found. 'By using satellites to track fishing vessels, countries can predict the locations of illegal activities and target patrol efforts, saving both manpower and money,' said Jennifer Raynor, the study's lead author and a professor of natural resource economics in UW–Madison's Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology. A growing body of research shows that MPAs produce spillover of fishes and invertebrates that increases the catches of species from small and sedentary (lobsters, scallops) to large and migratory (tuna). A 2024 study revealed that fishing catch per unit effort increases, on average, 12% to 18% near the boundaries of large fully protected MPAs. 'Illegal fishing takes place in areas of the ocean set aside for protection, but using satellites we have found — for the first time ever — that the level of protection determines how much risk industrial fishers are willing to take on,' Sala remarked. 'Fully and highly marine protected areas discourage illegal fishing. The stricter the rules in place to conserve ocean areas, the more benefits nations receive — including more fish to be caught outside protected areas' boundaries.' National Geographic Pristine Seas Pristine Seas works with Indigenous and local communities, governments, and other partners to help protect vital places in the ocean using a unique combination of research, community engagement, policy work, and filmmaking. Since 2008, our program has conducted nearly 50 expeditions around the world and helped establish 30 marine reserves, spanning more than 6.9 million square kilometers of ocean. Pristine Seas is part of the global non-profit, the National Geographic Society. Our mission is driven by science and filmmaking — we are fully independent from National Geographic publishing and its media arm.
National Geographic
08-07-2025
- Science
- National Geographic
What causes coral bleaching? Here's how it threatens ocean and human life
Sea water divides the sunset and a ghost land of corals in New Ireland, Papua New Guinea. Ocean acidification has increased coral bleaching around the world. Photograph by Juergen Freund, Nature Picture Library Coral reefs aren't just marine biodiversity hotspots, they're critical to human life. When reefs die, the impact ripples across food systems, local economies, and climate resilience, especially in coastal communities. Here's everything you need to know about bleaching, its impacts on marine life and human communities, and how we can save our reefs. What is coral bleaching? Tropical coral reefs are known for their rainbow of reds, oranges, pinks, and purples, which are produced by a microscopic algae that lives inside the coral tissue. 'Corals have this partnership with a tiny little algae called zooxanthellae,' says Molly Timmers, a marine ecologist for National Geographic Society's Pristine Seas project. In this symbiotic relationship, the algae inside the coral converts sunlight into food through photosynthesis, and shares this energy with its host. Up to 90 percent of a coral's energy comes from the zooxanthellae, also known as algal symbionts. Certain changes, especially increased ocean temperature, can upset this delicate balance. Prolonged heat stress causes corals to expel the algae living in their tissues and turn white, becoming highly vulnerable. 'When coral gets stressed, it's like you and I getting sick,' says Timmers. 'We sweat when we're recovering from something.' The coral expels the algae as a stress response. Without it, the coral loses its color and main source of food. (These photos show what happens to coral reefs in a warming world.) When coral bleaches, it isn't dead—yet. 'They're on life support,' says Michael Sweet, professor of aquatic biology at University of Derby in the United Kingdom. Bleaching impacts a coral's ability to reproduce and to create mucus, making it more susceptible to disease. In the ocean, 'corals are bathed in this microbial soup,' he says. Like snot in a human's nose, mucus helps them capture and get rid of harmful bacteria. 'The mucus is the first line of defense.' If normal environment conditions return quickly, the algae do too. If not, the coral can quickly starve to death. 'It can shut down and just give up, and then it dies quite instantly,' says Sweet. Bleached corals line the reef in Koh Mak, Thailand. Global warming is driving higher temperatures, warming coral so much that they expel the zooxanthellae living in their tissues and turn white. Photograph by Napat Wesshasartar, Reuters/Redux Bailey Thomasson, a restoration coordinator with the Coral Restoration Foundation, scuba dives above bleached corals at Looe Key Reef. Located off Florida's Big Pine Key, Looe Key was the epicenter of massive coral reef bleaching event in summer of 2023 with nearly 100 percent of corals dying. Photograph by Jason Gulley, The New York Times/Redux A school of Cavalla swim above bleached Stony Coral near Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef have been impacted by coral bleaching as it disrupts the mutually beneficial relationship between corals and the algae that live inside them. Photograph by Gary Bell, Oceanwide/Minden Pictures Coral reefs support 25 percent of the world's marine life. Their structures provide a home, feeding, breeding, and nursery grounds for many fish—housing that's a good deal more efficient compared to the flat seabed. 'You can house more people in a 20-story apartment building than a one-story building,' says Timmers. When corals die and animals lose their home, mobile species migrate and those who can't move might die out—disrupting the food web. 'Things get out of whack,' she says. Coastal communities lose their main food source as well as livelihoods dependent on tourism and hospitality. Their loss can have a cultural impact for Indigenous communities who value natural ecosystems. The Hawai'ian story of creation tells that polyps—the individual organisms that make up the coral colony—were the first animals created. Corals being the very first thing to appear from the darkness demonstrates their importance to the community. (How trash from ancient humans is protecting these coastal islands today.) The disappearance of coral also puts coastal infrastructure at risk. Reefs act as natural breakwaters that can reduce wave energy by 97 percent. Without reefs buffering the shoreline, waves hitting land are more powerful. 'Seafaring people know that when you have fringing reefs, the wave energy is stopped before your community,' says Timmers. Stronger waves pummeling the coastline also increases the risk of erosion and flood damage. Sediment covers part of this Brain coral as it experiences coral bleaching. Healthy coral colonies are a green-brown color and clearly show the coral's grooves. Photograph by Norbert Wu, Minden Pictures Scientists are developing various ways of protecting corals from bleaching. One method involves shading corals from the hot sun using underwater parasols made from cloth. Some experts are preserving species in controlled 'biobanks' to keep them safe from extreme conditions in the wild. Others are supporting restoration efforts by breeding or moving heat-tolerant corals to new areas. Marine protected areas, fisheries management, and pollution measures are also important. Some researchers are even experimenting with a method known as known as cloud brightening, or manipulating the clouds above reefs to make them more reflective and therefore keeping the waters cooler.— However, critics worry about potential unintended consequences, such as changes to weather patterns. 'Prevention is better than cure,' says Sweet. 'We need to tackle climate change. That should always be front and center.' Experts say if we take urgent action now, reefs around the world can recover and thrive. 'It is devastating, what is happening,' says Timmers, 'but there's still hope.'
France 24
09-06-2025
- Politics
- France 24
UN summit to tackle 'emergency' in world's oceans
World leaders attending the UN Ocean Conference in Nice have been told to come up with concrete ideas -- and money -- to tackle what organisers call a global "emergency" facing the neglected seas. The appeal for unity comes as nations tussle over a global plastics pollution treaty, and the United States sidesteps international efforts to regulate deep-sea mining. On the eve of the summit, Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said that leaders must act now: "The planet can no longer tolerate broken promises." A wave of new commitments is expected Monday in Nice, where around 60 heads of state and government will join thousands of business leaders, scientists and civil society activists. "Never in the history of humanity have we brought together so many people for the oceans," French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday before hosting leaders for an official dinner. Trawling targeted On Monday, the United Kingdom is expected to announce a partial ban on bottom trawling in half its marine protected areas, putting the destructive fishing method squarely on the summit agenda. Bottom trawling sees huge fishing nets dragged across the ocean floor, a process shockingly captured in a recent documentary by British naturalist David Attenborough. Greenpeace welcomed the UK announcement on trawling but said in a statement it was "long overdue". Macron on Saturday said France would restrict trawling in some of its marine protected areas, but was criticised by environment groups for not going far enough. French environment minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher told reporters Sunday that other countries would make "important announcements" about the creation of new marine protected areas. Samoa led the way this past week, announcing that 30 percent of its national waters would be under protection with the creation of nine marine parks. Just eight percent of global oceans are designated for marine conservation, despite a globally agreed target to achieve 30 percent coverage by 2030. But even fewer are considered truly protected, as some countries impose next to no rules on what is forbidden in marine zones, or lack the finance to enforce any rules. Words into action Nations will face calls to cough up the missing finance for ocean protection, which is the least funded of all the UN's 17 sustainable development goals. Small island states are expected in numbers at the summit, to demand money and political support to combat rising seas, marine trash and the plunder of fish stocks. The summit will not produce a legally binding agreement at its close like a climate COP or treaty negotiation. But diplomats and other observers said it could mark a much-needed turning point in global ocean conservation if leaders rose to the occasion. "The UN Ocean Conference gives us all an opportunity to turn words into bold and ambitious action," said Enric Sala, founder of Pristine Seas, an ocean conservation group. Another summit priority will be inching towards the numbers required to ratify a global treaty on harmful fishing subsidies, and another on protecting the high seas beyond national control.
The Citizen
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Citizen
Attenborough's message about the oceans
'If we focus on protection, we buy time. And in that time, nature begins to heal.' It is not on land, but under the sea, where Sir David Attenborough said, lies the most important place on Earth. After producing and narrating wildlife and natural heritage documentaries for most of his life on the planet, the master storyteller has been deeply affected by the careless destruction of our oceans. In a new documentary, Oceans, Attenborough lends his voice to a visual and scientific account of what we stand to lose should the world continue to neglect the seas, but also what we could still save, if we acted quickly. Directed by Toby Nowlan, Oceans is more than a film. He said that it is a visual confrontation to audiences, captured over two years and filmed across the globe. From the wild Pacific to the Mediterranean, from the kelp forests of California to the bleached remains of coral reefs, the documentary offers a view into worlds that many will never see or never really comprehend. Nowlan said the reason is simple. 'The ocean is out of sight, so it becomes out of mind,' he said. 'We cannot breathe underwater, and we do not spend time down there the way we do on land, so we have no idea what is happening below the surface.' Devastation of marine ecosystems The documentary features footage of bottom trawling, a fishing method that has devastated marine ecosystems yet remains legal in many parts of the world. Heavy nets are dragged along the ocean floor, destroying habitats and scooping up everything in their path, including unwanted species and animals. This occurs, even within supposedly protected marine zones. 'We released a ninety-second clip of it on social media to premiere some of the challenges captured in the film,' Nowlan said. 'Within a week, tens of millions had seen it. That was more than any of the scientists or even the people working on those boats had ever witnessed. That is the power of bringing these images to the screen.' And the potential muscle it must change mindsets. ALSO READ: TV's 'The Four Seasons' makes you think For marine biologist and National Geographic explorer Enric Sala, the experience of working on Oceans was very personal. 'We are destroying our life support system,' he said. 'But I have seen what happens when we protect even small parts of the ocean. Life comes back. Coral reefs recover. Fish populations return. It works. It is the one thing that works.' Absolute dedication to conservation Sala left academia nearly two decades ago to dedicate his life to conservation. During his sortie, he has helped create some of the world's largest marine reserves through his Pristine Seas initiative. Yet, he said that the challenges facing the oceans have grown more severe. 'People feel overwhelmed when they hear that we need to fix everything at once,' he said. 'But if we focus on protection, we buy time. And in that time, nature begins to heal.' A key moment in Oceans is a narrative showing the most extensive coral bleaching event ever caught on film. Coral bleaching occurs when ocean temperatures rise, causing corals to expel the algae they rely on for food and colour, leaving them weak, pale and at risk of dying. A compass jellyfish off the coast of Pembrokeshire, United Kingdom. (Credit: Olly Scholey) A pod of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins swimming across the coral reefs of the Red Sea, Egypt. (Credit: Olly Scholey) The coral reefs of Raja Ampat, Indonesia. (Credit: Olly Scholey) 'It happened while we were filming,' said Nowlan. 'We activated crews across the globe, in the Maldives, Florida, Australia, and Mexico, to capture it. 'We had a very short window to show it in its full, white devastation. But we also followed what happened afterwards, and the reefs that were protected began to recover. Not all of them, but enough to prove that it can be done.' We can still save our seas Sala said we can still save our seas. 'Marine protected areas make ecosystems more resilient. If we manage to reduce carbon emissions and give the ocean space, it will meet us halfway. But we must act now.' Nowlan said not everything in Oceans is doomsday. 'There is a lot of bad news out there,' said Nowlan. 'People switch off when they feel like everything is doom. This film had to offer something else. Not false comfort, but proof. Tangible hope, too.' The good news is told via successes. The largest school of yellowfin tuna ever filmed appears in the documentary, a species once thought too elusive to benefit from marine reserves. Yet, off the coast of the Phoenix Islands, populations surged by more than fifty percent in surrounding waters after protection measures were introduced. Working with Attenborough on Oceans was incredible for Nowlan. 'I have worked on several of his documentaries before, but this one is different,' he said. 'This is Sir David's most personal project. He said so himself. And when he speaks about the ocean, you can feel that it is not just about the science or the visuals. It is about the future. He believes this is the last great frontier where we can still make a difference.' Oceans airs on National Geographic on 13 June and is available on Disney+ from 8 June. Now Read: Local star shines in new global Pepsi campaign
