Fishing Vessels
11,800 fishing vessels tracked worldwide
Fishing vessels (AIS type 30) are boats and ships used to catch fish, shellfish, and other marine organisms for commercial, artisanal, or industrial purposes. They range from small inshore trawlers operating in coastal waters to large factory trawlers and processing ships that catch, process, freeze, and package fish entirely at sea during voyages lasting weeks or months. Common vessel types include stern trawlers dragging weighted nets along the seabed, purse seiners encircling schools of pelagic fish, longliners deploying lines with thousands of baited hooks, gillnetters using vertical curtain-like nets, and dredgers harvesting shellfish from the ocean floor. AIS tracking of fishing vessels plays a critical role in maritime governance—it enables flag states and regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) to monitor fleet activity, enforce exclusive economic zone (EEZ) boundaries, detect dark fishing (vessels that disable their transponders), and combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, which is estimated to account for up to 26 million tonnes of catch annually.
Track fishing vessels worldwide
See 11,800 fishing ships on a live map, follow journeys, and get alerts when one moves.
Subtypes of Fishing Vessels
Fishing vessels are classified by gear type. Stern trawlers tow weighted nets along the seabed (bottom trawl) or in midwater (pelagic trawl) — the workhorses of distant-water fishing. Purse seiners deploy large encircling nets around schools of pelagic fish like tuna, sardines, and anchovies. Longliners deploy lines kilometres long with thousands of baited hooks targeting tuna, swordfish, and toothfish. Gillnetters use vertical curtain-like nets that tangle fish by their gills. Dredgers harvest shellfish from the seabed. Factory trawlers and freezer trawlers process and freeze catch onboard during voyages of weeks or months. Small artisanal vessels include longboats, dhows, and pirogues operating within sight of shore. The largest fishing vessels in service exceed 140 metres and 14,000 GT.
How Fishing Vessels Operate
Fishing operations are tightly bound to seasonal stock movements, weather, and quota systems. Distant-water fleets — primarily Chinese, Spanish, Korean, Taiwanese, and Russian — voyage thousands of miles to fishing grounds and remain at sea for months, transferring catch to refrigerated cargo ships (reefers) for transport home. Coastal fleets work shorter trips of days to weeks. Bottom-trawl operations follow daily fishing patterns: shoot the net, tow for 1–4 hours, haul, sort, repeat. Tuna purse seiners spend hours searching with helicopters, sonar, and fish-aggregating devices (FADs) before encircling a school. Some fleets work cooperatively with mother-ships providing fuel, supplies, and processing capacity.
Tracking Fishing Vessels and Combatting IUU Fishing
AIS tracking of fishing vessels is critical for fisheries governance. Vessels disabling their transponders are a strong indicator of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing — estimated at up to 26 million tonnes annually. Organisations like Global Fishing Watch combine AIS, VMS (Vessel Monitoring System), satellite radar, and optical imagery to detect dark fishing in protected areas, EEZ violations, and trans-shipment patterns. Pattern analysis of AIS speeds and headings reveals which gear type a vessel is using — slow loops indicate trawling, tight circles indicate purse seining, straight runs indicate longline setting. Some fleets engage in "flag hopping" — re-flagging to states with weak enforcement — which AIS history can expose.
Major Fishing Grounds Worldwide
The world's most productive fishing zones include the Northwest Atlantic (Grand Banks, Georges Bank, Gulf of Maine), Northeast Atlantic (Barents Sea, North Sea, Bay of Biscay), the upwelling zones off Peru and Chile (anchovy), the Sea of Okhotsk and Bering Sea (pollock, salmon), Patagonian shelf (squid, hake), West African shelf (small pelagics), Indian Ocean tuna grounds, and the Western Pacific tuna belt. Many fisheries are managed by Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOs) like ICCAT for Atlantic tuna, IATTC for Eastern Pacific, WCPFC for Western and Central Pacific, and CCAMLR for Antarctic resources. Quotas are allocated by species, stock, and member nation.
Regulations and IUU Enforcement
Fishing vessels operate under domestic flag-state regulation augmented by international fisheries law. The UN Fish Stocks Agreement (1995) commits states to cooperative management of straddling and highly migratory stocks. The FAO Port State Measures Agreement (2016) requires states to deny port entry to vessels suspected of IUU fishing. EU IUU regulations bar imports of seafood without catch certificates. Larger fishing vessels must carry Class A AIS, and most flag states require VMS reporting to fisheries authorities. Penalties for IUU fishing include vessel seizure, license revocation, fines, and crew prosecution. Catch documentation schemes (CDS) for high-value species like Patagonian toothfish and bluefin tuna track fish from sea to plate.