The Pew Charitable Trusts recently published an article highlighting the international reach of Costa Rica’s Cocos Marine Conservation Area Monitoring, Control, and Surveillance Center (MCCA). This center, which protects the UNESCO World Heritage Site, is at the forefront of combating illegal fishing in one of the world’s most vital marine protected areas.
Using advanced satellite tracking technology, such as Global Fishing Watch, authorities can monitor illegal fishing vessel activities in real-time around Cocos Island, an ecosystem critical to the biodiversity of the Pacific Ocean. This advanced monitoring is especially valuable in the eastern tropical Pacific, a region that hosts whales, tuna, sharks, rays, sea turtles, and hundreds of other marine species that either live or migrate through these waters.
“The science is clear: Marine protected areas (MPAs) are essential to helping our ocean recover from human-inflicted damage and thrive far into the future. But for MPAs to work, marine managers need data that helps them monitor these areas to understand what is happening across vast, remote ocean spaces,” the article emphasized.