Problem Statement 15-14: "An app to trace and determine a catch's origin within the Indian Ocean."

NOTE: This is a featured problem statement. Featured problem statements have been qualified for post-Fishackathon engagement by both the submitting party and by our expert panel. While all of the submitted problem statements qualify for the prizes, these have vetted for contunuation beyond the event itself.

Background
1. Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing is a significant global problem jeopardizing ecosystems, food security, and livelihoods.
2. Although difficult to quantify with confidence, one global study estimates losses of $10-23 billion annually.
3. Illegal fishing practices also often result in deleterious impacts on the environment, mainly by damaging protected grounds and catching juveniles and untargeted species like turtles, whales, seabirds or dolphins.
4. Few countries have adequate capacity or resources to address effectively IUU activities in their jurisdictions. This lack of capacity contributes to a lack of detected violations and few investigations, fewer still that are actually charged and brought to court for resolution with fines and other appropriate sanctions imposed. A lack of current rules and weak systems overall also aggravate these problems in many places.
5. All over the Indian Ocean basin enforcement capacity is weak. Our duo of submissions focuses there where fisheries are so important.

Problem Statement
Second, we’d like to try to answer the question ‘How do you determine whether the catch is of legal origin? ‘ There is a need to associate the applicable rules and judge the information submitted about the fish, vessel and people against the requirements. This question would most likely be asked (and answered) at the point of first landing. Include evaluating information such as: Catch information, likely from a captain’s logbook (hardcopy or electronic) Fishing license information-e.g., including dates of validity, gear permitted, species permitted and quantity to be caught, unit licensed (vessel, person, etc), reports required and their frequency, and any other relevant information Fishing vessel information Location on the ocean where the fish were caught which might come from satellite based vessel monitoring, to determine if fish taken from an area that is open to fishing
Fish landing declarations

Additional Background
5. Trying to improve this lack of capacity to combat IUU is the subject of our two proposals: this one and one gathering all of the applicable laws, regulations, etc, Great if they could be done as a duo to try and address some basic resources needed for enforcement.

The United States plays a large role in global IUU, even if not intentionally. Our large and lucrative market is the destination of quantities of illegal fish from around the world. As part of the work recently announced by President Obama and federal agencies to close the United States’ market to “black market fish” there will be many challenges associated with actually achieving this goal as so much of the fish consumed in the US is caught or imported from countries around the world. We actually import fish and seafood from about 130 countries. So these tools can help other countries and the US at the same time.

Core Category
Fisheries Management; Conservation

Organization Name
The World Wildlife Fund

Organization Address
1250 24th St NW Washington, DC 20037

Organization Point of Contact (Name)
Michele Kuruc

Organization Point of Contact (Title)
Vice President, Oceans Policy

Organization Point of Contact (Phone Number)
202.495.4140

Organization Point of Contact (Email Address)
michele.kuruc@wwfus.org

Focus Area
Illegal Fishing

Solution Category
Software