Nearly a third of global fish stocks are overfished. Overfishing is further compounded by illegal fishing, which is estimated to result in losses of up to 26 million tons of seafood and 23.5 billion USD annually. This has grave consequences for economies, food security and human health, and the integrity of marine ecosystems, with vulnerable coastal nations among the most heavily affected.

Recent international policy developments present a promising opportunity for stopping illegal fishing. Notable among these is the FAO Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (PSMA), which entered into force in June 2016. To support the efficacy of all such efforts, it is important that the public and private sectors provide technology and tools to enhance stakeholder capacity for sharing information that will strengthen implementation of these policy mechanisms.

In support of this objective, we are developing a mobile application to facilitate broader participation in efforts for monitoring of illegal fishing activity and strategically disseminating information on problematic vessels. Our app, Mazu, takes its name from the Chinese sea goddess and patron of fishermen. Mazu will provide a lightweight platform for organizing, sharing, and collecting data on suspected and confirmed illegal fishing vessels via an easily adoptable mobile app designed for offline data capture in marine environments with low or no connectivity. Port inspectors, fishermen, law enforcement officials, and concerned citizens can view a priority list of known illegal fishing vessels to watch out for and report upon, but importantly, will also have the opportunity to report new cases of illegal fishing activity.

Mazu is being designed in consultation with key actors in the illegal fishing enforcement community. These relationships are intended to ensure clear pathways are put in view for adoption of the app and for direct utilization of the illegal fishing data collected using Mazu. Trusted users from such organizations will review and verify reports via a cloud-based database, and automated notifications of illegal fishing vessel presence will be pushed out to users in relevant and strategic geographiesallowing them to gather further supporting evidence or take appropriate enforcement action. Given that IUU fishing is frequently linked to numerous other types of transnational crimes, improved intelligence on vessel identities, locations, and activities will have spillover societal benefits for coastal states. Collectively, this technology will help provide the support needed to take on this serious threat facing our oceans.