Global Conservation Leads Anti-Poaching Radar Initiative

On the eastern coast of Baja California Sur, Global Conservation, with the support of partners and donors, has successfully deployed three M3 Marine Monitors across the San Basilio Bay, Bahía de Loreto National Park and through the Loreto/La Paz marine corridor, near the fishing refuge areas locales including Agua Verde and San Cosme.

As part of our Global Marine Parks Defense, we have strategically installed an innovative, technological tool that acts as a fully off-grid autonomous system which facilitates remote surveillance, understanding nautical activities, detecting illegal fishing, and recreational activities in the southern area of the Bahía de Loreto National Park, the fishing refuges, and the remote islands of the protected area.

The M3 allows the detection and recording of nearby vessels with a high degree of accuracy throughout tracks that contain information such as duration and position over time through an integrated radar/camera system and AIS signals. Additionally, it generates data such as images of vessels entering its range. With an off-grid power system and real-time data transmission, its main advantage is strategic mobility, as well as enabling remote monitoring for a variety of users, authorities, and community guardians.

This tool has proven to be not only a technological advantage, enabling us to comprehend nautical and fishing activity in the southern part of the National Park, but also a valuable instrument for the fishing surveillance committees of the cooperatives based in Agua Verde and San Cosme communities. These committees have expressed interest in expanding their monitoring capabilities by incorporating such tools into their network of fishing refuges.

For example, by comparing the level of information provided by vessel tracking platforms such as Skylight and/or Global Fishing Watch, it is possible to understand at a regional level how marine activity is connected and impacted along the corridor from Loreto to Espiritu Santo Island, recognizing that the southern area of the Bahía de Loreto National Park is a key point for the fishing communities within its area of influence.

We have also gained insight into fishing activities that occur both inside and outside the protected natural area, as well as within two of the largest fishing refuges in Mexico, to assist the authorities in conducting SMART patrols. We can confirm that the level of detail in the southern part of the National Park surpasses those platforms, primarily due to the M3's ability to detect all types of vessel activity through radar, AIS, and camera. This represents a superior level of detail when it comes to identifying specific vessels or recording those that are regularly present in the area.

Thanks to the support from park rangers at the Bahía de Loreto National Park, the commitment of fisheries officials, and the interest from local partners, the Mobile Marine Monitor is proving to be an effective tool to collect crucial information to understand vessel loitering, to identify potential areas of interest thru heat maps (illegal fishing), identify legal fishermans and boats, to stablish peak activity times and days, complement knowledge of activities in the more remote islands of the National Park from a remote Monitoring and Control Center, contribute information for the development of the Illegal Fishing Risk Predictor, and understand, within a regional or broader context, activities around our area of interest, from San Basilio Bay to the Loreto - La Paz corridor. Additionally, it allows us to connect with new interested users, such as legal and organized fishermen from the communities adjacent to the National Park and open the conversation for news collaborations.