Skip to main contentOceanPulse: Connecting Illegal Fishing Detection with Marine Ecosystem Impact
🌊 Hackathon Overview (36-Hour Implementation)
OceanPulse is a sustainable technology solution that detects illegal fishing activities and correlates them with fish migration patterns to provide a comprehensive understanding of marine ecosystem impacts. This project builds upon concepts like ShipSense but adds a critical ecological dimension.
❗ The Problem
Illegal fishing threatens global marine ecosystems, with approximately 20% of all fish caught illegally. Traditional monitoring fails to connect vessel detection with ecological impact, creating an incomplete picture for conservation efforts.
💡 Core Solution (36-Hour Implementation)
We will develop:
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Ship Detection Module
A neural network that identifies fishing vessels in satellite imagery and analyzes suspicious “dark vessel” behavior
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Fish Migration Correlation
An analysis engine that connects detected fishing activities to known fish migration routes and population data
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Interactive Dashboard
A visualization platform that displays both vessel activities and ecological impacts in an integrated map interface
🧭 Key Datasets
🛰️ Ship Detection Datasets
- Global Fishing Watch: AIS tracking for 60,000+ fishing vessels
- Dark Vessel Dataset: 55,000+ AIS gap records from ShipSense
🐟 Fish Migration Datasets
- GBIF Marine Data: Species occurrence data
- NOAA Fisheries: Commercial fish stock + migration data
- OBIS Biodiversity: Ocean species distribution