Illegal fishing is often assumed to be widespread in MPAs due to strong incentives to poach and the high cost of enforcement. A new global study combining ProtectedSeas Navigator regulatory information and Global Fishing Watch detected fishing activity tells a different story – at least for some MPAs. In fully and highly protected MPAs where industrial fishing is banned, the study found little to no activity. On average, only one fishing vessel was detected per 20,000 square km, which is nine times lower than in unprotected waters within exclusive economic zones.

The Navigator team collaborated with the study’s lead author, Jennifer Raynor, to offer guidance on filtering and analyzing the data to fit the research goals, while also providing insights on how to interpret key data attributes effectively. Jennifer highlighted Navigator’s importance to the study by saying, “ProtectedSeas Navigator was essential for this work. Having a centralized, accessible source of MPA regulations made a global study possible, and their team was incredibly helpful in navigating the complexity of protection rules.”

Click here to read the study published in Science: “Little to no industrial fishing occurs in fully and highly protected marine areas”.