Page 15: of Marine Technology Magazine (June 2016)

n 2014 the Food and Agriculture Organization (FOA) of the

United Nations published a report documenting the state of

I world ? sheries and aquaculture: around 90% of marine ? sh stocks are either fully or over exploited. Throughout super- markets worldwide, mislabeled and laundered illegal catches make their way onto shelves and into the homes of consumers.

As unsustainable ? shing practices sweep through the world’s oceans, unlikely collaborations bring modern technology and fresh insights to long-standing global concerns.

Launched by the U.S Department of State, Fishackathon aims to connect coders, programmers and software design- ers with ? sheries experts, data analysts and environmentalists.

And, in a space of 48 hours, compete to develop innovative and novel solutions for the collection of key ? sheries data to combat ghost gear, ? sh fraud, seafood traceability and illegal ? shing across the world.

Since its launch in 2014, Fishackathon has quickly expanded from ? ve cities to an international event hosted by over 40 locations across six continents. As an output of Secretary John

Kerry’s ‘Our Ocean’ conference, the annual event assembles the next generation of coders to create tools which help tackle

Both images courtesy: Fishackathon www.marinetechnologynews.com

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