These six pilot projects are making fishing more sustainable

EDF is developing a smart camera system that can be strategically placed at the entrance to harbors, boat launches and marinas to automatically identify and count fishing vessels in real-time. Using sophisticated algorithms powered by artificial intelligence, the pilot project calculates how many fishing boats are on the water in order to estimate how many fish recreational anglers are catching. These data can then supplement what is recorded by state and federal authorities in order to get a more accurate picture of the impact of recreational fishing on fish populations.

This technology also has tremendous potential in both recreational and small-scale commercial fisheries where information effort is often lacking. We are currently scoping small-scale commercial opportunities in Lampung Province, Indonesia, where this technology could be used to help estimate catch in the blue swimming crab fishery — an important fishery for the economy and nutrition needs of local fishing communities. And we are scoping this technology for use in a number of state-managed recreational fisheries where more accurate effort information would be a tremendous benefit to fishery managers and stakeholders.

EDF is building on a project it launched in 2018 to move the fishing industry toward cloud-based recordkeeping, streamlined data review and real-time information flow to improve overall fishery management and sustainability. This pilot project is aimed at dramatically reducing electronic monitoring costs while improving management by creating a new data management system that relies on wireless transmission of all data. This new approach replaces the antiquated practice of mailing removable hard drives to analysts, resulting in near real-time access to fishing data. In addition, activity recognition through AI can conduct most of the costly and time-consuming review tasks and minimize the amount of data that need to be stored and transmitted.

This pilot, if successful, would overcome key barriers to electronic monitoring by reducing human review and data storage costs, and make the technology more seamless and efficient for fishermen and regulators in the United States. These advances would then serve as a powerful example for fisheries all over the world.

Artificial intelligence that can identify fish to species level is quickly becoming a reality. EDF is using this cutting-edge technology to prove that it can lower costs while also enhancing fishing sustainability through a pilot project in the bottom trawl sector of the Pacific groundfish fishery.

The goal is to develop a camera system coupled with AI software capable of recognizing common discard species in the fishery. Instead of having to hand sort each species in separate containers and weigh them, as fishermen do now, the system would enable the crew to put all the discards together onto a belt. An overhead camera would register the species and estimate weight as it passes beneath the camera. This system would speed sorting time, while also helping protect the quality and freshness of the marketable fish. It will also be a massive step toward fully automated EM systems, which will dramatically reduce cost and make accountability much more widely available for fisheries globally.