| Project Reference: | ITP/064/22LP |
| Project Title: | AIS Vessel Trajectory Analysis for Illegal Fishing |
| Hosting Institution: | LSCM R&D Centre (LSCM) |
| Abstract: | Illegal fishing has been reported to account for up to 30% of all fishing worldwide with $23 billion economic damage per year. According to the report studied by the Government of Canada in 2019, illegal fishing has posed serious threats to marine biodiversity, fisheries sustainability, the balance of marine ecosystems, fish food security, and fish populations worldwide. In the meanwhile, Oceans Asia has mentioned that illegal fishing in Hong Kong has been observed almost daily. Simultaneously, in the Legislative Council in February 3rd, 2021, there is a concern that illegal fishing would severely damages fisheries resources and marine ecosystems within Hong Kong waters. Consequently, it is of vital importance to combat these activities as soon as possible. Monitoring and detecting fishing vessel activity are one of the most critical components of tackling illegal fishing. The Agriculture, Fisheries, and Conservation Department (AFCD) in Hong Kong has a dedicated enforcement team to patrol against these activities with the help of the Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. Currently the limited surveillance resources with manual AIS analysis cannot provide timely intelligence to AFCD for efficient patrol planning. Therefore, developing an automated and smart AIS data analysis algorithm/ method is highly desirable. The objective of the proposed project is to develop a machine learning based method to automate AFCD's AIS data analysis process to (1) profile AIS data trajectory patterns from vessels that has conducted illegal fishing activities in Hong Kong waters; and (2) to identify suspicious vessels that may involve in such activities. |
| Project Coordinator: | Dr Russell Siu Wai Yiu |
| Approved Funding Amount: | HK$ 2.79 M |
| Project Period: | 1 Mar 2023 - 29 Feb 2024 |
