Surrey engineers help Mauritius spot illegal fishing from space

Authorities in Mauritius will begin combatting illegal fishing with satellite technology thanks to a partnership between the University of Surrey and the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council (MRIC).

The Nereus project combines satellite images with other ship location data. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect anomalies, spotting ships of interest and working out where they are headed. Authorities can then check whether illegal fishing is taking place.

Catching vessels illegally fishing off an island such as Mauritius can be like finding a needle in a haystack. With our expertise in satellite data, we’ve been able to find a solution that identifies areas more at risk and supports the detection of suspicious behaviours at sea.

This is an exciting milestone in this rewarding project – and we’re looking forward to seeing how our partners in Mauritius use it to protect their precious marine environment. Dr Raffaella Guida, Reader in Satellite Remote Sensing

Nereus, funded by the UN Development Programme’s UNDP Ocean Innovation Challenge, is a potent addition to Mauritius’s tools for detecting illegal maritime activity. It offers the chance to detect it in near-real time.

As the project nears completion, it will be celebrated at Mauritius’ first International Space Symposium on 18 April.