History made for the ocean: #BBNJ Agreement enters into force, protecting high seas & deep seabed, safeguarding life under water.

“Our ocean is the foundation of our very existence. Today we took an important step forward to save our ocean, & to save our future” - ED @ingerandersen.bsky.social

Thank you!

Isn't it incredible! Enric took this photo in the Galapagos.

Big thanks to my collaborators @emlab.ucsb.edu + Nat Geo Pristine Seas, and to @globalfishingwatch.org + ProtectedSeas for key data.

Full paper in @science.org: doi.org/10.1126/scie...
Explainer in @theconversation.com: theconversation.com/we-tracked-i...

#ScienceResearch #OceanTransparency #MPAs

Our study points to a promising shift in strategy:
⚓The future of enforcement in protected areas isn’t just more patrols.
🛰️ It’s using satellites + open data to target patrols where they’re needed most.

These tools can make enforcement more efficient, especially for countries with limited capacity.

This is a rare good-news story for ocean conservation, and a proof of concept for monitoring vast ocean protections with open data + AI. These tools are scalable, transparent, and cost-effective, offering a promising model for monitoring ocean activity worldwide.

The results?
📉 96% of these protected areas saw less than one day of apparent fishing effort per year; 80% saw none at all.
📉 Just 1 fishing vessel detection per 20,000 km² on average in protected areas—9x lower than unprotected waters.

Not bad for places many assumed had rampant poaching.

We used two independent tools to detect industrial fishing vessels:
📡 AIS - a tracking system that broadcasts ship locations, but can be turned off or tampered with
🛰️ SAR - satellite radar that detects large vessels, even if they aren’t using AIS
#SatelliteImagery #AIS #copernicus #Sentinel1

Using AI + Earth observation satellites, we analyzed industrial fishing activity in 1380 fully and highly protected MPAs spanning almost 8 million square kilometers around the globe. These are places where industrial fishing is completely banned. Here’s what we did and found 👇

We asked a simple but high-stakes question: Do industrial fishers actually follow the rules in the world’s most strictly protected marine areas?
💡The assumption: Probably not. MPAs are remote, hard to police, and often seen as paper parks.
💡The reality: Little to no illegal activity in most places.

Why do some say marine protected areas are just “paper parks”? And are industrial fishers actually staying out of these no-fishing zones?

New in @science.org: We used AI + satellite radar to find out. doi.org/10.1126/scie...

#ScienceResearch #OceanConservation #OceanTransparency #30x30 #Fisheries