On June 8th the National Geographic Society announced the winners of the Marine Protection Prize. The Prize awards innovative solutions and technologies that protect and sustain fisheries in coastal communities. The winners are Paul Ferber of Marine Conservation Cambodia, Badr Idrissi of ATLAN Space and Melissa Garren of Pelagic Data Systems.
Overfishing and illegal fishing put planet’s oceans at risk, as well as food security and the livelihood of island nations and coastal communities. The purpose of the Marine Protection Prize is to attract a range of solutions that offer low-cost and easy-to-maintain technologies, relevant to the needs of local stakeholders. Each winner will be awarded $150,000 to implement their plans.
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From using AI to monitor illegal fishing, the three winning teams offered new approaches to protect and sustain fisheries in coastal communities.
Marine Conservation Cambodia, led by Paul Ferber, created a project which aims to counter illegal fishing practices in Kep province, Cambodia by using anti-trawling structures and delimiting boundaries of a marine fisheries management area.
Paul Ferber said:
Conservation doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive; often the simplest solutions offer the most effective outcomes. Giving nature a break from anthropogenic stresses is all that is needed to allow nature to do what it does best, self-restoration. As a species, we need to reassess our priorities and remove ourselves from the consumer lifestyles we have adopted and return to a more balanced approach where we give nature the respect it so desperately needs.
Continuing, Badr Idrissi of ATLAN Space created the FishGuard pilot to identify and reduce illegal fisheries in Seychelles. FishGuard monitors large marine areas using fully autonomous drones guided by AI, supported by expert analysis, to identify and tackle IUU (illegal, unreported, unregulated) fishing operations.
Badr Idrissi mentioned:
To fight IUU fishing and protect the sustainability of our oceans, we have created FishGuard, a fully scalable and adaptable solution that allows institutions to monitor millions of km2 while hugely decreasing the patrolling costs and greatly increasing the efficiency. FishGuard is a unique combination of autonomous drones guided by Artificial Intelligence, with field experience and capacity building.
Melissa Garren and her team at Pelagic Data Systems will work to tackle all three aspects of IUU fishing in the Kui Buri district, Thailand. The team will use solar-powered vessel tracking technology and analytics to support a fisher-driven initiative, along with local authorities, to implement sustainable fisheries management and combat IUU fishing.
Melissa Garren of Pelagic Data Systems noted:
The entire team at Pelagic Data Systems is honored to be recognized by the National Geographic Society for our work putting technology in the service of humanity throughout the fisheries sector. We are thrilled for this opportunity to collaborate with our local partners on a focused project that will further refine and strengthen our solutions in support of successful, sustainable fisheries.
