PACIFIC – A free technology will allow users to spy on global fishing practices, in a bid to curb illegal activity in the oceans and rebuild imperilled fish stocks.

The technology, known as Global Fishing Watch, was officially released to the public during the Our Oceans Conference in Washington.

Available at globalfishingwatch.org, the technology aims to offer a crowdsourced solution to the problem of illegal fishing, which accounts for up to 35 per cent of the global wild marine catch and causes yearly losses of $31 billion, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

US actor Leonardo DiCaprio, who unveiled the technology, said the planet’s oceans were being pushed to the brink by overfishing and pollution.

“This platform will empower citizens across the globe to become powerful advocates for our oceans,” DiCaprio said.

Using satellite technology combined with radar aboard boats, the platform allows people to zoom in on areas of interest around the world and trace the paths of 35,000 commercial fishing vessels.

“It gives the public an opportunity to see what is happening, even out in the middle of the ocean,” said John Amos, president and founder of SkyTruth, one of three partners in the project along with Google and Oceana.

“We need the public to be engaged to convince governments and convince the seafood industry that they need to solve the problems of overfishing.

“If you can’t see it and can’t measure it, you are not going to care about it and it is not going to get solved.”

The project has cost $13.7 million over the past three years to build, with $8 million of those funds contributed by the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation in January.

In order the make the data available for free, Oceana and its partners negotiated a deal with the satellite company Orbcomm to use its three-day-old data, which is described as “near real-time,” along with historical records.

Although the delay means that any criminals will not be nabbed instantaneously, advocates say the technology will open the world’s waters to public watchdogs in a way that has never been done before.

“We think it is going to have a lot of impact, first of all, just the deterrent effect of vessels knowing that we could see them if they are doing something they are not supposed to be doing,” Oceana vice president for US oceans Jackie Savitz said.

“You can look at an area you are interested in, zoom in and see what data we have.”

Already, the government of Kiribati has used Global Fishing Watch data to unmask illegal fishers in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, declared off-limits to commercial fishing on January 1, 2015.

The owners of the vessel had to pay a $1.3 million fine and also made a “goodwill” donation of another $1.3 million grant, Oceana said.

Overfishing is a growing problem worldwide, with about two-thirds of fish stocks in the high seas either over exploited or depleted, said the FAO.

Some of the planet’s largest fish, including tuna and swordfish, are below 10 per cent of their historical level.

Meanwhile, the US has joined more than 20 countries in creating 40 new marine sanctuaries around the world to protect oceans from the threat of climate change and pollution.

The various sanctuaries, unveiled at the Washington conference, limit commercial fishing, oil and gas drilling, and other human activities that affect ocean ecosystems.

Altogether, countries will announce new sanctuaries covering nearly 1.19 million square kilometres of ocean – an area around the size of South Africa. - RNZI