as satellites target illegal fishing, here are low-tech ways to make sure you're eating sustainably - solar traffic light system

On a large monitor in a room in Havel, England, the earth rotates in a black background.
Colorful dots are arranged in bunches along the coastline of the mainland, while other dots are scattered over the ocean.
It looks like something from James Bond's latest movie.
In fact, these points represent the position of almost all known fishing vessels at sea and are closely monitored. -
Satellite timing.
Visualization-
That's not very realistic. -
It is part of an ambitious new plan that supporters believe will be the best tool to end the piracy catastrophe.
Tony Long, head of the Pew Charitable Trust Ending Illegal Fishing Project, said: "We don't know of any project outside the military that will bring so many layers of information together and bring so many stakeholders together to end illegal fishing. "
"Turn your eyes to the ocean," he said, which would "focus faster and brighter" on illegal fishing.
The project is a company initiated by the British government and co-operated by Pew and Catapult, a satellite application company, which will begin monitoring the two Pacific regions on a pilot basis and gradually expand globally over the next three to five years.
That may be timely.
A study published last week in the Journal Science warned that our current practice has led to what the authors call "defamation" as the number of marine fish has fallen by 38% since 1970.
That is to say, an animal-free ocean: "On land, we know the phenomenon of'empty forests'", which means the ecological extinction of forest species, they wrote.
We are now observing the spread of "empty reefs", "empty estuaries" and "empty bays".
"Illegal and unreported fishing is a major cause-
We put a third of the seafood rice on the table illegally fished. -
As we all know, this is difficult to control.
Many countries have fishing quotas, and marine protected areas have been designated at least on paper.
But there are not enough law enforcement personnel to manage the oceans, especially around developing countries.
If a given fishing vessel is fishing in the current law enforcement climate, such as in marine protected areas, it would be better to know this now in a few hours.
More often, crimes are not discovered.
Illegal fishing vessels often merge with other vessels at sea, transship or unload their catch, making it difficult to find the source of these fish.
To solve these problems, Lang said, the new system combines satellite monitoring with databases on individual ships, maps of protected areas and other information.
It combines algorithms designed to analyze and interpret ship motion.
For example, speeds of more than a quarter and less than five knots may indicate that a boat is fishing. A slow back-and-
The fourth movement may be tilting towards long-line fishing, which is illegal in some areas due to by-catch and ghosts. -fishing issues.
Close-range alerts alert the possibility of possible transshipment when two vessels approach.
If a human monitor team now needs 18 hours to analyze such data, the developers of Project Eye on the Sea say they can provide the same results in 18 milliseconds.
Unlike Google's similar plans, the Pew project uses a variety of methods to track ships.
That's important, Lang said, because ships sometimes turn off transponders that allow them to track them, especially when they enter protected areas where fishing is not allowed or when they try to transport fish.
The new system is also designed to take pictures of suspected ships that shut down transponders from satellites.
Mastering this information does not mean that overworked and underfunded law enforcement agencies will be able to appear and arrest them within eight hours. -
Even an hour-out at sea.
But this could have implications for the new international "port State measures" agreement, under which coastal countries pledge to expel foreign vessels suspected of illegal fishing from their ports.
"Any official in any port in the world should be able to get enough information," Lang said. "They can make the right decisions about the ships trying to enter the port and realize whether there are any illegal activities in the history of the ship.
. . . A lot of data already exists, but it's not shared.
The ability to share these data will make this work.
"Even the poorest countries have immediate access to these data.
The project will begin monitoring at two locations: Easter Island in the South-East Pacific and Palau Island in the Western Pacific Ocean in the eastern Philippines.
Both regions are considering the protection of marine protected areas.
Long said he hopes to expand the project to more protected areas in the next three to five years.
Finally, he said, he envisioned a traffic light system in which each ship was marked with the same color as a green, yellow or red light in the database.
Port officials can then look up the ship's identification number, check its status on mobile phones or other equipment, and know whether to let it in unimpeded, check it, or just drive the ship away.
Meanwhile, most of the burden of combating illegal fishing will continue to fall on the United States, which is the world's leading consumer of illegal seafood.
Last month, a Presidential Task Force made recommendations on how best to prevent illegal or "black market" seafood from entering the United States, and both Republicans and Democrats supported the Task Force's recommendations.
Among other recommendations, the Working Group also called for all seafood to enter the United States. S.
To obtain relevant tracking information, customs agents, retailers and consumers who ultimately shop at supermarket seafood counters can determine the types of fish imported, where fish are caught, what types of fishing gear, and even which boat.
This week, a United Nations working group will also make recommendations on how to protect marine habitats in international waters.
But there's no need to wait.
Seafood consumers can stop illegal fishing with only minor sacrifices: for example, it means giving up everything. -you-can-
Eat a shrimp buffet in your favorite restaurant and gently let the manager know why: America's favorite seafood, by volume, accounts for a quarter of all our imported seafood and is often not advertised on the label.
Illegal shrimp fishing in Mexico is the main cause of the imminent disappearance of Vaquita, the world's most endangered marine mammal. Tuna—
Things in cans and sushi rolls-
According to a study in last year's Ocean Policy, this is another common fish of illicit origin.
"Almost all tuna resources in the world have been fully exploited, and some of them have been overexploited," the newspaper said.
Unreported bluefin tuna catches in the Mediterranean are a major factor in the country's rapid population decline.
Likewise, the North Sea cod is difficult to recover from illegal fishing.
Because no rational shopper can track all these things, bring along the Seafood Watch app at the Monterey Bay Aquarium to help.
Ask people behind the seafood counter where the fish they sell are caught and if they can prove it is legal.
The more consumers ask, the more retailers feel the need to get answers. -
For example, to avoid illegal fishing of 40% of tuna imported from Thailand, 70% of salmon come from China.
Finally, you can support American fishermen by joining local community-supported fisheries.
Find the nearest one to you.
Roberta Elias, deputy director of marine and fisheries policy at WWF, said illegal and unreported fishing "may be the biggest cause of overfishing worldwide".
"This is a major factor in the degradation of global marine ecosystems.
"The good news is that without waiting for new laws or technologies, we can stop doing this by choosing the way we shop.