Overview and Objectives

Modified

June 21, 2024

VAST Challenge 2024 - Mini Challenge 2

This project was done as part of the VAST Challenge 2024, and the team decided to tackle the Mini Challenge 2.

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing poses a significant threat to global marine ecosystems and sustainable fisheries. It undermines conservation efforts, depletes fish stocks, and distorts markets by introducing illegally caught fish into the supply chain. IUU fishing also compromises food security, especially for communities that rely heavily on fish as a primary protein source. By tackling IUU fishing, we can protect marine biodiversity, ensure the long-term sustainability of fisheries, promote fair trade practices, and uphold the livelihoods of those dependent on legal fishing activities. Effective measures against IUU fishing are crucial for maintaining healthy oceans and resilient coastal communities.

Key Tasks under MC2

The following are the key tasks:

FishEye analysts need your help to perform geographic and temporal analysis of the CatchNet data so they can prevent illegal fishing from happening again. Your task is to develop new visual analytics tools and workflows that can be used to discover and understand signatures of different types of behavior. Can you use your tool to visualize a signature of SouthSeafood Express Corp’s illegal behavior? FishEye needs your help to develop a workflow to find other instances of illegal behavior.

  1. FishEye analysts have long wanted to better understand the flow of commercially caught fish through Oceanus’s many ports. But as they were loading data into CatchNet, they discovered they had purchased the wrong port records. They wanted to get the ship off-load records, but they instead got the port-exit records (essentially trucks/trains leaving the port area). Port exit records do not include which vessel that delivered the products. Given this limitation, develop a visualization system to associate vessels with their probable cargos. Which vessels deliver which products and when? What are the seasonal trends and anomalies in the port exit records?

  2. Develop visualizations that illustrate the inappropriate behavior of SouthSeafood Express Corp vessels. How do their movement and catch contents compare to other fishing vessels? When and where did SouthSeafood Express Corp vessels perform their illegal fishing? How many different types of suspicious behaviors are observed? Use visual evidence to justify your conclusions.

  3. To support further Fisheye investigations, develop visual analytics workflows that allow you to discover other vessels engaging in behaviors similar to SouthSeafood Express Corp’s illegal activities? Provide visual evidence of the similarities.

  4. How did fishing activity change after SouthSeafood Express Corp was caught? What new behaviors in the Oceanus commercial fishing community are most suspicious and why?