Global Fishing Watch

What Global Fishing Watch does

Global Fishing Watch is a US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2015 by Oceana, SkyTruth, and Google, and incorporated as an independent entity in June 2017. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 101-250 employees, the organization operates the first open-access global platform for satellite-based vessel tracking and fishing activity analysis, serving national governments and fisheries authorities, environmental NGOs, academic researchers, the seafood industry, and commercial fishers. Its platform is provided free of charge worldwide via web browser, public APIs, and downloadable datasets.

The technology stack combines multiple vessel-tracking and remote-sensing modalities — Automatic Identification System (AIS) data covering over 190,000 unique devices, Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data shared by partner governments, VIIRS night-light detections, SAR imagery, and Sentinel-2 optical imagery — fused through proprietary machine learning algorithms that classify fishing activity, detect loitering and transshipment events, identify dark vessels with disabled signals, and score IUU fishing risk. The product surface includes the Global Fishing Watch Map (public visualization), the Marine Manager Portal (private government workspaces), Vessel Viewer (vessel-level intelligence), the Carrier Vessel Portal (transshipment monitoring), Deep-Sea Mining Watch (launched December 2025 with Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory), and public Python-accessible APIs.

Global Fishing Watch has no commercial pricing — the platform is free to all users — and is funded entirely through philanthropic grants and government contributions. Major funders include The Audacious Project ($60M in June 2023, structured over five years), the Bezos Earth Fund, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Pew Charitable Trusts, the Walmart Foundation, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Distribution is exclusively digital and self-serve, with policy influence and government adoption advanced through the Our Ocean Conference series, UN Ocean Conference, and bilateral partnerships; the June 2026 Mombasa Declaration saw 15 countries commit to advancing fisheries transparency using the platform's data.

Name

Global Fishing Watch

Legal name

Global Fishing Watch, Inc.

Website

https://globalfishingwatch.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Global Fishing Watch is a US-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating the first open-access global platform for satellite-based vessel tracking and fishing activity analysis, serving governments, NGOs, researchers, and the seafood industry.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ocean Intelligence and Fisheries Monitoring Software

NAICS

Navigational Services to Shipping (48833)

SIC

Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)

akta.pro primary industry

Maritime Security Technology & Surveillance Systems (CCTV, Radar, AIS, Perimeter Intrusion) (TLAHANAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Maritime Security Technology & Systems (CCTV, Radar, AIS, Perimeter Sensors) (BPAKALAI), Marine Sensors, Instrumentation & IoT (Condition Monitoring) (IMAJAJAI), Regulatory & Sanctions Compliance Screening for Maritime Operations (Trade Controls, AML) (TLAHANAL)

Keywords

• Marine monitoring platform
• Fishing transparency data
• Vessel tracking analytics
• Ocean governance intelligence
• Satellite-based fisheries

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grants and Donations: Global Fishing Watch operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funded primarily through grants and donations from philanthropic foundations, governments, and individual donors. The organization received a USD $60 million investment through The Audacious Project in 2023 to fund a five-year ocean mapping initiative. In 2020, the organization received $8.6 million in donor support with expenses of $7.3 million. Approximately 91 cents of every dollar spent goes directly to programs.
2. Government Grants: Government grants from agencies including the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Defense Innovation Unit provide funding support for Global Fishing Watch operations and specific programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Global Fishing Watch operates an open-access online platform that merges satellite vessel tracking data (AIS, VMS), satellite imagery (VIIRS, SAR, Sentinel-2, Planet), and machine learning algorithms to visualize, analyze, and detect global fishing activity and vessel behavior. The platform serves governments, fisheries authorities, NGOs, researchers, and the public with map visualization, private management workspaces, vessel-level analysis tools, transshipment monitoring, and downloadable datasets and APIs.

Product overview

Global Fishing Watch operates as a nonprofit ocean transparency organization offering a suite of interconnected technology products centered on its core public mapping platform. The flagship Global Fishing Watch Map enables visualization of global fishing activity and vessel movements using satellite data and machine learning. Supporting tools include the Marine Manager Portal for private marine area management, the Vessel Viewer for vessel-level analysis, and the Carrier Vessel Portal for transshipment monitoring. In 2025, Deep-Sea Mining Watch was launched as a specialized monitoring portal. The organization provides public APIs for data access and supports research through multiple specialized projects and an annual Open Ocean Research Grant Program. All offerings are built around open-access principles to advance ocean governance through transparency.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Marine Manager: A portal for marine protected area management and workspace creation with environmental dataset overlays.
• Vessel Viewer
• Carrier Vessel Portal
• Deep-Sea Mining Watch

Products and services

• Global Fishing Watch Map The first open-access online platform for visualization and analysis of vessel-based human activity at sea. Powered by satellite technology and machine learning, it merges multiple types of vessel tracking data to provide global views of fishing activity, vessel encounters, and industrial activity. Accessible to any internet user globally at no cost.
• Marine Manager Portal A private workspace portal that allows marine managers and authorities to create custom analysis workspaces, upload environmental datasets (polygons and track data), and conduct area-specific monitoring and planning for marine protected areas and fisheries management.
• Vessel Viewer Tool for viewing detailed vessel-level information, vessel tracks, and identity data. Supports vessel group reports for fisheries and compliance managers reviewing identity, activity, and insights for groups of vessels.
• Carrier Vessel Portal Public global monitoring portal for tracking refrigerated cargo ships (reefers) and transshipment activities. Provides visibility into carrier vessel loitering events, vessel encounters, and port visits to address illegal fishing through supply chain transparency.
• Deep-Sea Mining Watch Open-access portal launched with Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory to monitor vessel activities engaged in deep-sea mineral exploration. Tracks over 40 vessels in exploration areas across international waters and adjacent regions to increase transparency in the deep-sea mining industry.
• Global Fishing Watch APIs Public APIs providing programmatic access to AIS-based fishing effort data, vessel events statistics, and vessel identity information. Allows developers to query fishing activity data worldwide or for custom regions.
• Datasets and Code Downloads Publicly available datasets including apparent fishing effort, transshipment data, anchorages/ports/voyages, and vessel identity data. Provides downloadable code and access to anonymized labeled AIS datasets for training fishing prediction models.

Quantifiable outcome

• Mapped 100% of the global industrial fishing fleet as of 2025
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability6 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Benioff Ocean Science LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 December 2025Global Fishing Watch and the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory jointly launched Deep-Sea Mining Watch, an upgraded open-access portal monitoring over 40 vessels engaged in deep-sea mineral exploration across international waters. This partnership extends transparency monitoring to the nascent deep-sea mining industry.
• OceanacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOceana is one of the three founding partners of Global Fishing Watch (along with SkyTruth and Google), established in 2015. Oceana is an international ocean conservation organization that continues to collaborate on advocacy, policy, and conservation initiatives. Global Fishing Watch was launched at the Our Ocean Conference 2016 where Oceana's leadership was present.
• SkyTruthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSkyTruth, a technology company using satellite imagery and data to protect the environment, is one of the three founding partners of Global Fishing Watch. SkyTruth contributes technological expertise in satellite data analysis and environmental monitoring.
• GooglecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGoogle is one of the three founding partners of Global Fishing Watch, providing cloud computing infrastructure, tools, and technical contributions to process large volumes of data for the platform.
• Planet (Labs)coreTechnology or IntegrationPlanet provides high-resolution optical satellite imagery that expands views of coastal activity and small vessels, leading to significant advances in vessel detections around the globe. This partnership significantly enhances Global Fishing Watch's coastal monitoring capabilities.
• Sustainable Fisheries Partnership (SFP)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSFP collaborated with Global Fishing Watch and the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) to enhance transparency in global tuna fisheries, supported by the Walmart Foundation. The initiative combines data platforms to provide sustainability indicators and vessel-level monitoring.
• International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerISSF partnered with Global Fishing Watch and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership to enhance transparency in global tuna fisheries, combining data platforms to provide sustainability indicators and vessel-level monitoring for responsible sourcing.
• Joint Analytical Cell (JAC) MemberscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Joint Analytical Cell (JAC) is a collaborative center that facilitates access to data, technology, and large-scale analysis for state and non-state actors to combat illegal fishing. It leverages innovative technologies and complementary expertise from member organizations to provide fisheries intelligence, capacity development, and operational support worldwide.
• Trygg Mat Tracking (TMT)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerTMT is listed as a sponsor and is referenced in the context of the vessel groups and workspaces update (October 2024), where Global Fishing Watch and TMT introduced vessel group reports in Vessel Viewer supporting fisheries and compliance managers.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• MarineTraffic: MarineTraffic is the world's largest AIS-based vessel tracking platform, providing real-time and historical ship movement data to commercial maritime users via paid subscriptions. It directly overlaps GFW's vessel tracking capability and even supplies AIS data back to Global Fishing Watch as a data partner.
• VesselFinder: VesselFinder provides AIS-based vessel tracking and maritime intelligence, offering paid subscriptions for commercial fleet monitoring and port call analytics. It competes with GFW in the global vessel tracking space, particularly for commercial maritime customers and individual ship enthusiasts.
• Spire Maritime: Spire Maritime operates a proprietary satellite constellation capturing AIS data and provides commercial maritime intelligence including vessel tracking, predictive analytics, and dark vessel detection. It directly competes with GFW on the AI-driven analytics layer built on top of satellite AIS data.
• Pole Star Global: Pole Star Global provides maritime intelligence, vessel tracking, and sanctions compliance screening for shipping and commodities companies. It overlaps with GFW on vessel tracking and is a direct competitor in maritime compliance and monitoring, particularly for commercial due diligence and sanctions screening use cases.

Emerging players

• SkyTruth: SkyTruth is a founding partner of Global Fishing Watch and uses satellite imagery and data analysis to monitor environmental issues including mining, oil and gas, and fishing activity. While smaller in scope, it shares the satellite-based environmental monitoring mission and approach with GFW.
• Oceana: Oceana is the largest international ocean conservation advocacy organization and a founding partner of Global Fishing Watch. While primarily an advocacy NGO rather than a technology platform, Oceana collaborates closely with GFW on policy, enforcement, and conservation initiatives, and shares the IUU fishing transparency mission.
• Saildrone: Saildrone builds and operates autonomous wind and solar-powered ocean data collection vehicles that gather real-time maritime data. While focused on physical ocean data collection rather than satellite-based fishing monitoring, Saildrone overlaps with GFW in ocean monitoring, maritime domain awareness, and use of AI for ocean insights.
• Thalos: Thalos is an ocean intelligence platform that combines satellite data and AI to provide vessel tracking and maritime domain awareness for government and commercial customers. It directly competes with GFW's analytical capabilities applied to maritime activity, though as a commercial paid platform rather than open-access.

Broad incumbents

• CLS (Collecte Localisation Satellites): CLS is a subsidiary of the French Space Agency (CNES) and provides satellite-based maritime monitoring including vessel tracking, fisheries monitoring, and oceanographic data. CLS has a longer history than GFW in fisheries surveillance using VMS/AIS and serves government fisheries agencies globally, making it a direct comparable in the satellite-based fisheries monitoring space.
• exactEarth: exactEarth (now part of Spire) provided satellite AIS data services for vessel tracking and maritime domain awareness to government and commercial customers. It operated as a foundational data provider in the same satellite AIS ecosystem that GFW uses for its platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses2 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/globalfishwatch
• Facebookfacebook.com/globalfishingwatch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/global-fishing-watch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors3 records

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Global Fishing Watch