The science is clear: Marine protected areas (MPAs) are essential to helping our ocean recover from human-inflicted damage and thrive far into the future. But for MPAs to work, marine managers need data that helps them monitor those areas to understand what is happening across vast, remote ocean spaces.
Recent advances in artificial intelligence technology have made such data more accessible. In 2020, the nonprofit research and advocacy group Global Fishing Watch and philanthropist Dona Bertarelli co-founded an online platform, called Marine Manager, that reveals fishing, shipping, and other vessel-based human activity throughout the ocean in near-real time. Marine Manager shows this information in map form for all types of vessels, along with sea-surface temperatures, ocean depth, and other environmental data. The platform allows users to upload their own datasets, such as for the migratory patterns of threatened marine species.
Over the past two years, Global Fishing Watch, working in collaboration with Dona Bertarelli and Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy, has partnered with marine experts and governing bodies to support the designation and effective implementation of MPAs in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
As part of this effort, marine managers, scientists, and conservation organizations now use Marine Manager daily to collectively monitor 10 MPAs spanning more than 772,000 square miles (2 million square kilometers) in the waters of Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and Panama.
Such collaboration is particularly important in the eastern tropical Pacific, which is home to whales, tuna, sharks, rays, sea turtles, and hundreds of other creatures that live in or migrate through the region.
Recognizing the need to protect this exceptional biodiversity, the governments of Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Panama have been working together since 2004 on marine conservation through a regional body called the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (known by its Spanish acronym, CMAR). Marine Manager helps CMAR governments and other countries in the region, such as Mexico, efficiently share information and develop solutions to monitor vessel traffic and conserve marine resources.
Over the past two years, Global Fishing Watch has trained more than 320 people in the region on the use of the tool. Trainees include CMAR members, MPA managers, authorities from national navies, coast guards, and fisheries departments, and many others.
To further enhance monitoring, Global Fishing Watch has worked with regional officials to add additional map layers, such as locations of coral reefs and seamounts—both of which provide habitats for an abundance of marine species—and 15 layers of environmental data.
Marine Manager not only helps measure and monitor the impacts of human activities and fishing pressures in and around MPAs but improves marine managers’ understanding of the threats to biodiversity. CMAR managers have used the platform to produce visualizations of key data, such as three years’ worth of vessel activity within CMARs protected waters and Mexico’s Revillagigedo MPA. This has proven valuable as CMAR works to design a regional marine biosphere reserve with UNESCO.
Jean Carlo Alvarado, the monitoring control and surveillance center manager for Costa Rica’s Coco Marine Conservation Area, uses Marine Manager to identify areas of high fishing pressure, which helps him adjust surveillance efforts. Alvarado said Marine Manager has been invaluable in analyzing trends and developing long-term conservation strategies.
“This tool allows me to identify and track vessels that operate illegally or suspiciously and transit through our waters, facilitating quick and effective decision-making for the protection of the marine resources of Costa Rica, CMAR, and the world,” Alvarado said. “I also use this platform to collaborate with national and international organizations, sharing key information that contributes to the sustainable management of marine resources and the protection of biodiversity in Costa Rican waters.”
Alvarado and other ocean managers add that data from Global Fishing Watch, in addition to supporting the development of marine management plans, has kept local communities aware of what is happening in their ocean—a key advantage to gaining local support for conservation and other policies. Global Fishing Watch and Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy are confident that tools such as Marine Manager increase transparency and accountability, and can help governments and international organizations worldwide better manage one of the richest ecosystems on the planet.
Johnny Briggs works on the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy.