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A team of researchers, using satellite data and other analytical tools, has identified companies fishing in high seas waters that lie outside of national jurisdiction where fishing has raised fears about environmental and labor violations. The study, which appears in the journal
One Earth, is the first to link companies to fishing activity in these largely unregulated areas. There is a lot of concern about companies that operate on the high seas, simply because there they are beyond the reach of any nation s laws and regulations, says Jennifer Jacquet, an associate professor in NYU s Department of Environmental Studies and lead author of the peer-reviewed study. By connecting those boats with specific companies, this study takes a first step in enhancing transparency we now know a lot more about who is profiting from fish catches in the global commons.
(Photo courtesy of Nathaniel Wilder)
(CN) New research revealed Friday has shed new light on the companies around the world that carry out fishing operations in Earth’s most unregulated waters, as satellite data revealed their activities amid concerns of violations of labor and environmental laws and overfishing.
To help address these concerns, researchers published a study in the journal One Earth that brings to light a number of international companies that operate on the high seas, an effort that researchers say provides a new resource with which to gauge what exactly is happening in such unmonitored environments.
Jennifer Jacquet, associate professor at NYU’s Department of Environmental Studies and lead author of the study, said that the research is the first of its kind to promote this much-needed transparency in these critical areas.