Clusters of fishing vessels gravitating toward known fishing grounds create some of the most interesting patterns on the maps. Global Fishing Watch is an international nonprofit that uses AIS to monitor the fishing industry, seeking to protect marine life from overfishing. But it says that only 2% of fishing vessels use AIS transmitters. The organization, which is backed by Google, the ocean conservation group Oceana, and the satellite imagery company SkyTruth, combines AIS data with satellite imagery and uses machine learning to classify the types of fishing technology being used. In a press release announcing the creation of Global Fishing Watch, John Amos, the president and founder of SkyTruth, said: "So much of what happens out on the high seas is invisible, and that has been a huge barrier to understanding and showing the world what's at stake for the ocean."

Humans are racing to harness the ocean's vast potential to power global economic growth. Worldwide, ocean-based industries such as fishing, shipping and energy production generate at least US 1.5 trillion in economic activity each year and support 31 million jobs. This value has been increasing exponentially over the past 50 years and is expected to double by 2030. Transparency in monitoring this "blue acceleration" is crucial to prevent environmental degradation, overexploitation of fisheries and marine resources, and lawless behavior such as illegal fishing and human trafficking. Open information also will make countries better able to manage vital ocean resources effectively. But the sheer size of the ocean has made tracking industrial activities at a broad scale impractical – until now.

The majority of the world's industrial fishing vessels are not publicly trackedThree-quarters of the world's large fishing boats and a quarter of transport and energy ships are "dark vessels" that do not publicly share their location. The finding comes from an analysis of satellite images using artificial intelligence – an approach that could help better track human activities impacting the oceans. "We had an idea that we were missing a big chunk of the activity happening in the ocean but we didn't know how much," says Fernando Paolo at Global Fishing Watch, a non-profit organisation based in Washington DC. "And we found that it's a lot more than we imagined." Paolo and his colleagues used satellite images – including radar images that can reveal objects regardless of clouds or darkness – taken between 2017 and 2021 and covering coastal regions where most large-scale fishing and other industrial activities take place.

Huge fleets of Chinese fishing boats have been caught stealthily operating in North Korean waters--while having their tracking systems turned off. The potentially illegal fishing operation was revealed through a combination of artificial intelligence, radar and satellite data. This story originally appeared on WIRED UK. A study published today in the journal Science Advances details how more than 900 vessels of Chinese origin (over 900 in 2017 and over 700 in 2018) likely caught more than 160,000 metric tons--close to half a billion dollars' worth--of Pacific flying squid over two years. This may be in violation of United Nations sanctions, which began restricting North Korea from foreign fishing in September 2017 following the country's ballistic missile tests.

Huge fleets of Chinese fishing boats have been caught stealthily operating in North Korean waters – while having their tracking systems turned off. The potentially illegal fishing operation was revealed through a combination of artificial intelligence, radar and satellite data. A study published today in the journal Science Advances details how more than 900 vessels of Chinese origin (over 900 in 2017 and over 700 in 2018) likely caught more than 160,000 metric tons --close to half a billion dollars' worth -- of Pacific flying squid over two years. This may be in violation of United Nations sanctions, which began restricting North Korea from foreign fishing in September 2017 following the country's ballistic missile tests. Illegal fishing threatens fish stocks and maritime ecosystem, and can also jeopardise food security for legitimate fishers.

Satellite imaging has revealed hundreds of vessels from China fishing off the coast of North Korea, violating UN resolutions prohibiting such activity in the largest known case of vessels from one country operating unlawfully in another country's waters. More than 800 vessels were seen in 2019, say researchers at the non-profit Global Fishing Watch, who traced the boats to Chinese ports and waters. A similar number were seen in 2017 and 2018. They estimate that the vessels, about a third of China's long-range fishing fleet, caught more than 160,000 tonnes of flying squid, rivalling the Japanese and South Korean total. Stocks of the squid, the main commercially fished species in the area, have declined dramatically in recent years.

Artificial intelligence is the beating heart at the center of delivery robots, autonomous cars, and, as it turns out, ocean ecology trackers. In a blog post on Friday, Global Fishing Watch, a platform founded by Google, Skytruth, and Oceana that monitors fishing activity around the globe, announced the addition of two new data layers to increase "transparency" and "awareness" around overfishing. One of the new layers tracks transshipment, a method whereby one fishing vessel offloads its catch to another, refrigerated ship at sea. It's often used to combine illicitly caught fish with legal seafood, and it usually takes place in international waters, making it difficult for authorities to track. Working from a database of 300,000 ships across 12 categories, Global Fishing Watch trained machine learning algorithms to identify when a fishing vessel is docked alongside a refrigerator vessel, and to determine the likelihood that transshipment is taking place.

In the first half of the twentieth century, Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolved around just science fiction movies but it has come a long way since then. From presenting targeted ads based on one's Google search history to SIRI and self-driving cars, AI has made progress in various socioeconomic issues as well. One of the most remarkable breakthroughs of AI and machine learning is in healthcare applications. People are using various apps to learn more about themselves and lead a happier and healthier life. Apart from Medical Science, accomplishments of Artificial Intelligence in the fields of agriculture have become widespread.

Researchers are learning more than ever before about the effects humans are having on global fish stocks. It's all thanks to a website -- funded in part by actor Leonardo DiCaprio's foundation -- that tracks ships and uses a type of artificial intelligence to figure out incredible detail in worldwide fishing patterns. Kristina Boerder, a PhD student in marine biology at Dalhousie University, is one of the researchers working with Global Fishing Watch and a co-author on a study published this week in the journal Science. She said humans have been fishing for 42,000 years but we've been "rather in the dark" about where and how much fishing activity is happening. "This is really a problem because this is a resource that is not infinite," Boerder told the CBC's Mainstreet.

Summary: As deep learning expands those capabilities are finding their way into the not-for-profit community in the service of conserving the earth's wildlife and forests. The for-profit world may be driving AI but it's a solution to many problems in the not-for-profit world as well. We were particularly impressed by the use of deep learning technologies to solve problems in the pursuit of preserving natural resources including many species of animals and fish, and also including forests. For the most part the data problems that nature conservancy organizations face fall into these categories. Going back 20 years this meant putting intrepid feet on the ground with binoculars and note pads.