The Virtual Watch Room

Monitoring and enforcement of marine reserves can be challenging in remote parts of the world, where many of the last near-pristine waters are found. To help meet this challenge, The Pew Charitable Trusts has partnered with Satellite Applications Catapult, a U.K. government initiative created to help foster economic growth through the exploitation of space. Together, they have pioneered a system that enables government officials and other analysts to identify and monitor unlawful activities in global waters, particularly illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, sometimes referred to as pirate fishing. This cutting-edge technology merges satellite tracking and imagery data with other sources of information, such as fishing vessel databases and oceanographic data, to help monitor seas across the globe