Caught Red-Handed Workshops Build Momentum to Combat Illegal Fishing in the Western Indian Ocean

In Kenya, INTERPOL and Vulcan attended to discuss their efforts to combat illegal fishing. INTERPOL’s Alistair McDonnell presented their whole-of-government approach and innovative Mazu phone application to report suspicious vessels.

Vulcan’s Emily Patrolia introduced their Skylight technology to detect illegal fishing vessels using satellites. National participants included members of fisheries ministries and authorities, maritime police, navies, and other maritime agencies. These representatives brought integral expertise and generated fruitful discussion about how to combat illegal fishing in their countries and across the Western Indian Ocean region. While all of these agencies deal with illegal fishing, for many participants, this was their first time in the same room.

Workshop participants stressed the need for further collaboration and political will to generate resources to combat illegal fishing.