Over the past two years, the Global Fishing Research Program has made great progress, including the publication of almost a dozen papers and the initiation of many more research projects. At this 2018 two-day workshop, we are convening close research partners to share this research and identify projects for further collaboration. Our goals include:

  • Sharing with GFW and Research partners the many projects that have been completed or are underway
  • Updating research partners on the status of various GFW datasets and tools
  • Identifying projects and developing collaborations between partners and between partners and GFW
  • Building a closer-knit GFW research community

Transparency & Collaboration, Leading to Impact

The core principles of Global Fishing Watch are transparency and collaboration — this started as a collaborative project between three organizations (SkyTruth, Oceana, & Google) based on the principle that broader access to information leads to more impact. The Global Fishing Watch Research Program is based on these same principles.

The research program is an exciting development that complements the public platform and now involves a large number of research institutions. Given the multidisciplinary and complex nature of transboundary fisheries and ocean governance, we believe that many of our research challenges can only be met if all of the involved groups are willing to share datasets, ideas, and techniques. The Global Fishing Watch team will continue to prioritize our engineering and programmatic support toward initiatives along these collaborative principles.