SeaStar Fisheries Information Service

US based firm, MAXAR, has a mission to reveal insights to both government and industry, to enhance fishing operations, optimize IUU surveillance and improve protection of stocks. Offering four main services, it provides multi-source data through mapping to its clients, to help them understand and navigate the “changing planet” and some of the toughest problems facing it.

The company, which prides itself as having the strongest roots in geospatial information, works with a range of clients from leading US defense and intelligence agencies, multiple allied nations, and “hundreds of commercial customers.” The firm currently offers four main services that tune in closely with some of the major issues present in the fisheries industry.

Its SeaStar Fisheries Information Service “reveals insights to optimize fishing operations.” It combines oceanographic and meteorological datasets; asset tracking data; and information that is required by fishermen to monitor and analyze ocean conditions, vessel and fishing gear. Ultimately, it is designed to save time and fuel in the operation of fishing vessels like tuna and sardine purse seiners and longliners.

The ever growing contribution of aquaculture to total world fisheries production, is mostly based on coastal areas and more recently in the open sea. Though it is not easy to quantify the true cost of Harmful Algal Blooms (also known as Red Tides), the worldwide economic damages to aquaculture operations amount to several billion US Dollars annually. Thus, effective and timely HAB monitoring has become critical to alleviate their negative impacts. MAXAR’s Red Tide Monitoring Service provides managers and decision makers with an readily available and accessible tool to safeguard their fish and shellfish stocks and their assets to protect their investment.

Another factor that can have a major effect on fish stocks and their availability is the presence of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, an issue which Maxar has worked to find a solution to. Its Anti-IUU Service, based on its SeaStar BigData Platform, is designed to optimize surveillance of IUU fishing – “one of the ocean’s great economic, social and environmental threats.”