Map reveals untracked fishing vessels around Sicily and Tunisia

A groundbreaking study that combines Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite data and Artificial Intelligence has thrown new light on the number of vessels at sea. Astonishingly, the study reveals that around 75% of the world's industrial fishing vessels have previously been ‘dark’ to public tracking systems.

Not all boats are legally required to broadcast their position, but vessels not included in public monitoring systems, often termed ‘dark fleets’, can pose challenges for protecting and managing natural resources.

The map shows individual vessels detected by Sentinel-1 during 2017–2021, matched (blue) to known vessel positions from AIS broadcasts and unmatched vessels (orange). The vessels were classified as fishing or non-fishing with a deep-learning model. The national exclusive economic zones are overlaid.

Read full story: Sentinel-1 and AI reveal 75% of fishing vessels not tracked