Blast fishing, also known as dynamite fishing, uses explosives to stun or kill fish for easy collection. This illegal practice stems from a lack of governance and is extremely destructive to the oceans’ ecosystems, damaging the underlying coral reefs & underwater habitats.

To track commercial fishing activity around the world, SkyTruth, a small nonprofit based in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, has recently launched Global Fishing Watch in partnership with Google and Oceana. This prototype tool analyzes a satellite-collected feed of tracking data from ships' automatic identification systems—which vessels use to communicate their location to one another—to map movement over time and automatically determine which ships are engaged in fishing activity. Each vessel is pinpointed on a map outlining fishing laws around the globe. This map will be publicly available on theWeb, allowing anyone with an Internet connection to act as a watchdog and see when and where commercial fishing activity is occurring. ➡ Subscribe: http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe About National Geographic: National Geographic is the world's premium destination for science, exploration, and adventure. Through their world-class scientists, photographers, journalists, and filmmakers, Nat Geo gets you closer to the stories that matter and past the edge of what's possible. Get More National Geographic: Official Site: http://bit.ly/NatGeoOfficialSite Facebook: http://bit.ly/FBNatGeo Twitter: http://bit.ly/NatGeoTwitter Instagram: http://bit.ly/NatGeoInsta Click here to read more about how satellites are busting down illegal fishing worldwide: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/06/150615-skytruth-pirate-fishing-illegal-big-data-ocean-conservation/ PRODUCER: Mike Potter, Zach Connolly, and Manuel Lavalle VIDEOGRAPHER: Mike Potter EDITOR: Manuel Lavalle MOTION MEDIA: Marcus Kulik SOUND: Tom Schmidt, Kai Paquin, and Richard Adams ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Jed Winer SENIOR PRODUCER: Jeff Hertrick MUSIC: Audio Network Tracking Illegal Fishing—From Space | National Geographic https://youtu.be/XvM3y1fpv3E National Geographic https://www.youtube.com/natgeo