Prove what was landed, and act on what should not have been
Fisheries traceability & enforcement
Overview
Bait-to-plate seafood traceability and enforcement analytics against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing across the EEZ, built on the fisheries intelligence platform, in partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme and the European Space Agency. Gives fisheries ministries and coast guards the evidence chain behind every landing.
Bait-to-plate seafood traceability and enforcement analytics against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing: an evidence chain behind every landing and an EEZ-wide operating picture, built on the fisheries intelligence platform, delivered in partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme and the European Space Agency, for the fisheries ministries and coast guards that must police their own waters.
Key capabilities
- Bait-to-plate traceability on the fisheries intelligence platform, recording a catch's journey so a landing can be verified rather than merely declared.
- EEZ-wide monitoring that fuses satellite and vessel data to surface the discrepancies that mark unregulated activity.
- Enforcement analytics against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, turning fused data into actionable leads.
- Evidence-grade reporting for enforcement action and export-compliance checks.
- A way for legitimate operators to prove their catch is exactly what they declare.
- A standing monitoring capability rather than an occasional patrol, so scarce enforcement effort is directed where the evidence points.
- A sovereign enforcement tool accountable to the coastal state, delivered with the UN World Food Programme and the European Space Agency.
Performance envelope
| Traceability scope | Bait-to-plate, configuration-dependent |
| Monitoring geometry | EEZ-wide, subject to data availability |
| Data sources | Satellite and vessel data, fused |
| Analytics tuning | Matched to the fishery and enforcement mandate |
| Reporting | Evidence-grade for enforcement and export compliance |
| Integration surface | Integrated to existing systems on assessment |
| Data ownership | Accountable to the coastal state |
| Detailed methods | Available under controlled briefing, not published |
Qualitative envelope only. Exact figures are configuration-dependent and shared under a controlled briefing against your requirement: never published.
In depth
Fisheries traceability is not a single sensor but a chain that follows a catch from the water to the market and an analytics layer that watches the whole zone around it. Built on the fisheries intelligence platform and delivered with the United Nations World Food Programme and the European Space Agency, it turns enforcement from a matter of suspicion into a matter of record, sustained through one accountable team.
Traceability chain
A bait-to-plate record of a catch's journey from the water to the market, so a landing carries a documented chain rather than an unverifiable declaration.
Data fusion
Correlation of satellite and vessel data with catch and traceability records across the exclusive economic zone, surfacing the discrepancies that mark unregulated activity.
Enforcement analytics
Analytics tuned to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing that turn fused data into leads a ministry or coast guard can act on, rather than a wall of raw returns.
Evidence reporting
Evidence-grade reporting for enforcement and export compliance, so decisions can be defended with a documented record.
Operator
Fisheries inspectors and coast-guard analysts stay in the loop, directing enforcement effort where the evidence points and defending their decisions with the record behind them.
Platform
The underlying platform that carries the traceability chain, the fused zone picture and the reporting, delivered in partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme and the European Space Agency.
Operational problems it addresses
- Building the documented evidence chain behind a landing, so a catch can be verified rather than merely declared.
- Detecting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing across the exclusive economic zone by correlating vessel activity, catch records and traceability data.
- Directing scarce enforcement effort, from patrol vessels to inspections, to where the evidence actually points rather than by suspicion alone.
- Producing evidence-grade records that stand up in enforcement action and export-compliance checks.
- Giving legitimate operators a way to prove their catch is exactly what they declare, protecting a lawful fishery from the illicit one.
- Holding a sovereign monitoring capability accountable to the coastal state, not to an outside authority's fishing interests.
Deployment configurations
Why Unstrat: the difference
Unstrat is the authorised global representative and distributor for this capability. It is already in service with a track record behind it, so you are buying something that has done the job elsewhere, not funding a first attempt. You are not the test bed.
Versus enforcement by suspicion alone
Enforcement against IUU fishing fails without evidence, and evidence fails without a chain. A documented bait-to-plate record turns enforcement from a matter of suspicion into a matter of record, so decisions can be defended and legitimate operators can prove their catch.
Versus occasional patrols
An occasional patrol sees only what is in front of it. Fusing satellite and vessel data across the whole exclusive economic zone provides a standing monitoring capability, so scarce enforcement effort is directed where the evidence points rather than dispatched at random.
Versus a declaration a landing cannot prove
A self-declared landing is only as trustworthy as the operator making it. A traceability chain records the journey of a catch so the declaration can be verified, protecting a lawful fishery from the illicit one and standing up in export-compliance checks.
Versus a solution accountable to an outside authority
Monitoring the EEZ touches sovereign resource and enforcement decisions that should not answer to an outside authority's fishing interests. This is a sovereign enforcement tool, accountable to the coastal state, delivered with the UN World Food Programme and the European Space Agency rather than for a competing fishing power.
Versus a single-vendor closed system
A closed system locks a ministry into one fixed workflow. Building the traceability chain and analytics on the fisheries intelligence platform and integrating with the buyer's existing licensing and enforcement systems keeps the capability adaptable to how the coastal state actually polices its waters.
How it reaches you
Sovereignty & localisation
- Buyer ownership of the traceability records, monitoring data and evidence the platform produces.
- Local control of enforcement analytics, thresholds and reporting configuration.
- Options for local integration with national licensing, inspection and customs systems.
- In-region maintenance and sustainment rather than remote, supplier-gated support.
- Analyst and inspector training and train-the-trainer programmes to build a sovereign enforcement bench.
- Progressive technology transfer and localisation of the monitoring capability, scoped per programme.
- A path towards independent sustainment so the coastal state polices its own waters without outside dependency.
Integration
- Existing fisheries licensing and catch-declaration systems, so traceability augments the record a ministry already keeps.
- Coast-guard command and vessel-tasking systems, feeding leads to the operators who direct patrols.
- Satellite and vessel-tracking data sources fused into the EEZ operating picture.
- Customs and export-compliance workflows that rely on evidence-grade catch records.
- Government databases for licensing, enforcement and prosecution records.
- National monitoring-centre infrastructure, including connectivity, data feeds and siting, assessed as part of configuration.
Procurement & delivery
- Engagement begins with the coastal state's enforcement mandate and the specific waters, fisheries and licensing regime to be monitored, then builds the traceability and analytics configuration around them.
- Export-control position and end-user-certificate chain are confirmed before any configuration is represented.
- Demonstration or evaluation, configuration, contracting, delivery and acceptance follow the standard programme path.
- Inspector and analyst training, sustainment and in-region support are part of the same accountable engagement.
Fisheries traceability & enforcement: questions
How does bait-to-plate traceability actually help enforcement?
Enforcement against IUU fishing fails without evidence, and evidence fails without a chain. Bait-to-plate traceability records a catch's journey from the water to the market, so a landing can be verified rather than merely declared. That turns enforcement from a matter of suspicion into a matter of record, and gives legitimate operators a way to prove their catch is exactly what they say it is.
Can you monitor the whole EEZ, not just what a patrol happens to see?
Yes. Enforcement analytics extend the picture across the whole exclusive economic zone, correlating vessel activity, catch records and traceability data to surface the discrepancies that mark unregulated activity. The result is a standing monitoring capability rather than an occasional patrol, so scarce enforcement effort is directed where the evidence points.
Who is behind the platform, and who does it answer to?
The capability is built on the fisheries intelligence platform and delivered in partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme and the European Space Agency. It is a sovereign enforcement tool accountable to the coastal state, rather than to an outside authority's fishing interests.
Will the reports stand up in enforcement action and export checks?
That is the intent of evidence-grade reporting. The traceability chain and fused monitoring data produce a documented record that supports enforcement decisions and export-compliance checks, so a ministry or coast guard can defend its actions with the record behind them rather than with suspicion alone.
How does this fit with our existing licensing and coast-guard systems?
Integration is a design goal. The traceability chain and analytics are intended to augment the licensing, inspection and vessel-tasking systems a ministry and coast guard already run, feeding leads to the operators who direct patrols and evidence to the workflows that certify exports. The specific interfaces are assessed during configuration.
Who owns the data the platform generates?
The coastal state. Options exist for ownership of the traceability records, monitoring data and evidence, local control of analytics and reporting, in-region sustainment, analyst and inspector training, and progressive localisation, so the capability is operated and sustained under the state's own authority.
What can you tell us about coverage and the analytics themselves?
Traceability scope and monitoring geometry are configuration-dependent and matched to the fishery, the waters and the enforcement mandate. The detailed methods are shared under a controlled briefing against your specific requirement rather than published, so the discussion fits your EEZ, your fisheries and your licensing regime.
Next step on this capability
Related capability
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Questions buyers ask
What is IUU fishing monitoring?
It is the work of finding illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in your waters and proving it well enough to act. In practice that means fusing satellite and vessel data across the exclusive economic zone, flagging suspect behaviour, and producing reporting an enforcement chain and an export authority will both accept. Our side of it runs on our fisheries intelligence platform, which pairs those analytics with traceability from bait to plate.
See: Fisheries traceability and enforcementIllegal fishing in the maritime picture
What is the best platform for detecting illegal fishing?
Depends on which half of the problem you are solving. For wide-area vessel behaviour, Skylight is genuinely capable and free to eligible governments, fusing AIS at 100 million messages a day with Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, Landsat and night lights. For inspection targeting and port state measures, OceanMind publishes a rules engine and inspection plans. For provenance at the landing and an evidence chain that survives an export audit, that is what our traceability platform covers. Most ministries need more than one of those layers and should say so in the tender.
See: Compared with Global Fishing Watch, Skylight and OceanMind
What are the alternatives to Global Fishing Watch?
Global Fishing Watch is open by design: the map, downloads and APIs are available to anyone with an internet connection, and over 100,000 fishing vessels can be traced by name and flag state. That transparency has done more for fisheries oversight than most procurements, and it is still a choice, because your own fleet's grounds become visible too. If you need enforcement evidence held inside your jurisdiction, you need a delivered service rather than an open dataset. Our platform supplies IUU analytics and traceability to the ministry and its enforcement chain.
Seafood traceability system for export compliance
Export markets increasingly want to know which boat landed the fish and when. Our platform carries bait-to-plate provenance with quality assurance and a supply-chain guarantee for seafood buyers, and the same platform produces evidence-grade reporting for enforcement and export compliance. None of the three monitoring platforms we compare against publishes catch traceability as a product: Global Fishing Watch covers apparent fishing effort, Skylight publishes vessel-behaviour events, and OceanMind assesses port-entry requests against vessel history.
See: Catch and supply-chain traceability comparedFisheries traceability product page
IUU analytics that keep national fleet activity private
Ask every supplier where the data sits and who else may read it, then get the answer into the contract. Global Fishing Watch publishes by mission, and Skylight shares data and models with partners, including open-sourced models, alongside a public map. Our reporting is delivered to the ministry and its enforcement chain, from an independent, non-aligned supplier with no political exposure to a major-power ecosystem. We do not publish hosting arrangements on this site, so put data residency, access rights and exit terms in writing with us as well.
Tools for port state measures and inspection targeting
OceanMind has the published tool for this: PSMART assesses port-entry requests against vessel history and licensing, with inspection plans for boarding teams and training so authorities can run investigations themselves. If port state measures capacity is your immediate gap, ask them first. Our ground is the evidence chain behind the landing, which is what an export authority or a prosecution needs afterwards. The two fit together rather than compete.
How do you monitor a fishing fleet that does not carry AIS?
You accept that no platform sees all of it. Global Fishing Watch documents the ceiling honestly: roughly 100,000 of an estimated 3.3 million fishing vessels carry AIS, under 1 per cent of boats below 12 metres and about 20 per cent from 12 to 24 metres. Skylight adds night lights and optical detection, which helps with larger dark vessels. Our answer is different in kind, monitoring the landing and the chain of custody, so a boat that never broadcast still leaves a record when the fish is sold.
Is Skylight really free for governments, and what does it not cover?
It is free to government, regional and non-governmental organisations working against illegal fishing and other maritime crimes, and it is a serious platform. What it publishes is vessel-behaviour events such as dark rendezvous, fishing, EEZ entry and speed range, not catch traceability. It is also a philanthropically funded programme run by the Allen Institute for AI rather than a contracted supplier with obligations to your ministry. Run the free monitoring layer, and contract the evidence chain separately.
Fisheries reporting that stands up in an enforcement case
A heat map is not evidence. Our fisheries platform produces evidence-grade reporting for enforcement and export compliance, built on EEZ-wide monitoring fused from satellite and vessel data plus provenance from the landing. OceanMind publishes tailored risk reports naming potential violations, which is the nearest published equivalent. Whichever you pick, have your prosecutors specify what they need in the file before the platform is chosen.
What should a coast guard in West Africa buy to detect dark vessels inside its EEZ without depending on a foreign provider?
Start by separating detection from evidence. Free platforms will give you a wide-area picture quickly, and you should take that, but a philanthropic programme can be re-scoped and an open dataset shows your grounds to everyone else too. A sovereign chain needs three parts: wide-area sensing across the EEZ, analytics that turn detections into targets for your patrol assets, and a traceability record at the landing for the boats sensing never sees. We supply the analytics and traceability layers from an independent, non-aligned source, with orbital sensing available through the same channel.
See: Fisheries traceability and enforcementOcean surveillance from orbitMaritime domain awareness solution
Our seafood exports keep getting held up over catch documentation. What system gives buyers provenance from the landing?
This is a traceability problem, not a surveillance one, and the two are often confused in tenders. Our platform runs bait-to-plate provenance with quality assurance and supply-chain guarantee for seafood buyers, on the same platform that carries IUU analytics for the authorities. Monitoring platforms do not fill that gap: Global Fishing Watch covers fishing effort and vessel identity, not landings or the catch chain. Specify the document your importing market demands, then check which supplier's output actually produces it.
See: Traceability rows in the comparisonFisheries traceability product page
If Global Fishing Watch and Skylight cost nothing, why would a fisheries ministry pay for anything at all?
Because free is a price, not a business model. Both are funded by parties whose priorities are not yours, and either can change scope, retire a data source or alter access terms without a contract for you to argue about. Neither publishes catch traceability, which is the part export markets increasingly ask for. Take the free monitoring layer, plan for the day it is re-scoped, and contract the evidence chain and the sustainment obligations with a supplier who answers to you.
We have three patrol vessels and a small budget. How do we decide which fishing boats to board?
Boarding capacity is the scarce resource, so the platform's job is to rank targets rather than draw pictures. OceanMind publishes custom risk models against national regulations and inspection plans for onboard teams, which is the most explicit published offer in this comparison. Our contribution is EEZ-wide monitoring fused from satellite and vessel data, with reporting built for enforcement and for export compliance, so the same case file serves the boarding and the market. Ask any supplier to demonstrate targeting on last season's real traffic before you sign.
Which figures does Unstrat not publish for fisheries traceability, and how should we test the claims?
Small-vessel coverage, detection accuracy, hosting arrangements and pricing are not published on this site, and the comparison page marks those cells as not published rather than guessing. OceanMind states 99 per cent accuracy in fishing detection insights on its PSMART page, and Global Fishing Watch publishes both its training method and its coverage caveats. Ask us in writing for detection rates, small-vessel coverage and data residency, and hold the reply against those published numbers.
Is your fisheries platform a working product or a research demonstrator we would be funding into existence?
It is running now, carrying bait-to-plate provenance for seafood buyers and IUU analytics for the authorities that police the EEZ. It is built by a fisheries data-science team whose work is supported by the United Nations World Food Programme and the European Space Agency. Sustainment sits with one accountable team from first briefing through delivery and in-region support, rather than ending when a grant cycle closes.