Environment & Climate
Researchers use audio AI to track widespread illegal bomb fishing in Indonesia
A study monitoring Indonesia's Spermonde Archipelago estimates more than 8,000 underwater blasts occur annually, devastating local coral reefs.
The short version
- Marine scientists used underwater audio sensors and open-source AI to detect thousands of blast fishing explosions off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia.
- Researchers estimate that over 8,000 underwater bombs detonate annually in the Spermonde Archipelago, destroying equivalent to three football fields of coral reef every year.
- Illegal blast fishing turns living reefs into shifting rubble, blocking natural coral regeneration and contributing to a 75 percent reef loss in the area since 1990.
- Scientists hope to expand the open-source audio tracking system to provide real-time location data for marine patrols to intercept illegal fishers.
Key facts
- Researchers from the Zoological Society of London, James Cook University, and Hasanuddin University analyzed 16 months of underwater audio in the Spermonde Archipelago to track blast fishing.[Hacker News]
- The research team estimates that fishers detonate more than 8,500 underwater explosives annually within a 350-square-mile area off the coast of Sulawesi.[Hacker News]
- Blast fishing uses plastic bottles filled with explosives that kill or stun marine life within a 90-foot radius and can destroy 200 square feet of reef per blast.[Hacker News]
- Human activities, ocean warming, bleaching, and bomb fishing have combined to eliminate an estimated 75 percent of the coral in the Spermonde Archipelago since 1990.[Hacker News]
- Audio analysis showed that bomb fishing occurs year-round, peaking in the morning hours and declining on Fridays.[Hacker News]
What remains uncertain
- It is unknown whether real-time audio detection technology can be successfully integrated into active marine law enforcement to catch blast fishers in the act.[Hacker News]