![]() In 2021, on the basis of public records from regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) responsible for managing the high seas, about 17% of fishing hours on the high seas was conducted by vessel identities that were either not publicly authorized or were internationally unregulated ( Fig. 1C). RESULTS Unidentified, unauthorized, unregulated fishing ![]() Enhancing our understanding of vessel identity dynamics can support governments in tackling IUU fishing and better managing fisheries to protect one of the world’s most economically and culturally vital resources. This information, combined with GPS data, can track vessels from shipyard to ship graveyard, reveal potentially unauthorized fishing activity, and reconstruct vessel history to map patterns of reflagging. ![]() Although most of these registries provide incomplete information, in combination, they provide detailed, dynamic insight into the identities of the global fishing and support fleet. These registries contain both fishing vessels and fishing support vessels, which include refrigerated cargo vessels that engage in transshipment and bunker vessels that assist with refueling at sea, hereafter referred to as support vessels ( 27). For many of these registries, we obtained multiple versions, each corresponding to a different time range or temporal “snapshot,” thus allowing analysis of how these registries change over time. To address the gap in our collective ability to track changes in the identities, authorizations, and ownership of the commercial fishing fleet, we combine historical and current information from over 40 public vessel registries and use fuzzy logic to match it to a decade of vessel tracking data (see Supplementary Text, figs. As a result, comprehensive vessel information that links the activity of specific vessels to vessel characteristics, history of registration, license to fish, and vessel ownership is lacking in the public domain. The Global Record is currently in the first development phase and is not fully populated. Hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), it represents a powerful tool to address this implementation gap once it is fully populated (see section S1). The Global Record of Fishing Vessels, Refrigerated Transport Vessels and Supply Vessels (Global Record) is an initiative that aims to provide a single access point for information on vessels used for fishing and fishing-related activities with the primary objective being to combat IUU fishing by enhancing transparency and traceability. More robust information on vessel identity is generally found in vessel registries, but many states and fisheries management bodies do not publish registries, and for those that do, the information provided is often still limited, incomplete, inconsistent, or outdated. Although AIS has helped reveal large-scale patterns of fishing activity ( 15) and economics ( 16), its use in combating IUU and assisting with fisheries management has been limited because AIS data alone do not provide complete vessel identity characteristics, and the detail they do provide can be manipulated.
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