Reference Data

GEAR TYPES SUPPORTED

You can use the following list to filter fishing effort or other data by gear type. For more details, check our data caveats here.

• TUNA_PURSE_SEINES
• DRIFTNETS
• TROLLERS
• SET_LONGLINES
• PURSE_SEINES
• POTS_AND_TRAPS
• OTHER_FISHING
• DREDGE_FISHING
• SET_GILLNETS
• FIXED_GEAR
• TRAWLERS
• FISHING
• SEINERS
• OTHER_PURSE_SEINES
• OTHER_SEINES
• SQUID_JIGGER
• POLE_AND_LINE
• DRIFTING_LONGLINES

VESSEL TYPES SUPPORTED

You can use the following list to filter any data by gear type. For more details, check our data caveats about how we calculate each vessel type here.

• carrier
• seismic_vessel
• passenger
• other
• support
• bunker
• gear
• cargo
• fishing
• discrepancy

REGIONS

Region Metadata

After the update:

{
  "label": "Jordanian Exclusive Economic Zone",
  "id": 8491,
  "iso3": "JOR",
  "isoSov1": "JOR",
  "isoSov2": null,
  "isoSov3": null,
  "territory1": "Jordan"
}

In joint or overlapping regimes:

{
  "label": "Joint regime zone",
  "id": 1234,
  "iso3": "",
  "isoSov1": "VEN",
  "isoSov2": "NLD",
  "isoSov3": "DOM",
  "territory1": null
}

Or:

{
  "label": "Mayotte Overlapping Claim",
  "id": 5678,
  "iso3": "MYT",
  "isoSov1": "FRA",
  "isoSov2": "COM",
  "territory1": "MYT"
}

The public-eez-areas dataset includes metadata used to filter or group data geographically. As of this update, we've refined the logic behind the iso3 field to better reflect all the information provided by Marine Regions. This has now been adjusted to follow updated rules for more accurate representation, especially in complex territorial cases like joint regimes and overlapping claims.

Changes to our Regions

Giving users access to more ISO values offers them the flexibility and control to decide which specific ISO information is presented on their platform or work. To apply this metadata in your API queries, you can explore the public-eez-areas context layer here. Each region listed there includes a unique id, which can be used as a spatial filter or parameter in Global Fishing Watch API endpoints such as 4Wings and Events API.

There are two endpoints that uses regions ids:

• In Events API, an event can potentially be within a specific geographic area, such as an Exclusive economic zones (EEZs), Marine protected areas (MPAs) or Regional fisheries management organization (RFMO). In the response regions field you can get the list of those regions. Check more detail about the source of those areas on how we calculate if the event is within a region in our data caveats. For MPAs and EEZs, the API returns an id.

• In 4Wings API - Report, you can send in the body a custom polygon or you can directly send the region_id.

In order to get the details of those regions, call the endpoints described on the right.

You can check the source we use for those regions in our data caveats.

GET LIST OF EEZs

curl --location --request GET 'https://gateway.api.globalfishingwatch.org/v3/datasets/public-eez-areas/context-layers' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer [TOKEN]"

// Make sure to replace [TOKEN] with your API Access Token.
const res = await fetch(
  'https://gateway.api.globalfishingwatch.org/v3/datasets/public-eez-areas/context-layers',
  { headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer [TOKEN]' } }
)
const data = await res.json()

Make sure to replace [TOKEN] with your API Access Token. If the request is successful, the response returns:

[
  {
    "label": "Jordanian Exclusive Economic Zone",
    "id": 8491,
    "iso3": "JOR",
    "isoSov1": "JOR",
    "isoSov2": null,
    "isoSov3": null,
    "territory1": "Jordan"
  },
  {
    "label": "Overlapping claim Kuril Islands: Japan / Russia",
    "id": 48950,
    "iso3": null,
    "isoSov1": "JPN",
    "isoSov2": "RUS",
    "isoSov3": null,
    "territory1": "Kuril Islands"
  },
  {
    "label": "Joint regime area: Costa Rica / Ecuador (Galapagos)",
    "id": 48968,
    "iso3": null,
    "isoSov1": "CRI",
    "isoSov2": "ECU",
    "isoSov3": null,
    "territory1": "Costa Rica"
  },
  {
    "label": "Overlapping claim: Colombia / Dominican Republic / Venezuela",
    "id": 48971,
    "iso3": null,
    "isoSov1": "COL",
    "isoSov2": "DOM",
    "isoSov3": "VEN",
    "territory1": "Colombia"
  },
  {
    "label": "French Exclusive Economic Zone (French Polynesia)",
    "id": 8440,
    "iso3": "PYF",
    "isoSov1": "FRA",
    "isoSov2": null,
    "isoSov3": null,
    "territory1": "French Polynesia"
  },
  {
    ...
  }
]

Field Descriptions for List of EEZs

Note: These fields come directly from Marine Regions. For more details about the EEZ attributes and their definitions, please visit Marine Regions EEZ Attributes.

GET LIST OF MPAs

curl --location 'https://gateway.api.globalfishingwatch.org/v3/datasets/public-mpa-all/context-layers' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer [TOKEN]'

// Make sure to replace [TOKEN] with your API Access Token.
const res = await fetch(
  'https://gateway.api.globalfishingwatch.org/v3/datasets/public-mpa-all/context-layers',
  { headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer [TOKEN]' } }
)
const data = await res.json()

Make sure to replace [TOKEN] with your API Access Token. If the request is successful, the response returns:

[
  {
    "label": "Diamond Reef and Salt Fish Tail Reef - Marine Reserve",
    "id": "1"
  },
  {
    "label": "Palaster Reef - Marine Reserve",
    "id": "2"
  },
  {
    "label": "Folkstone - Marine Reserve",
    "id": "27"
  },
  {
    "label": "Reserva Biológica Atol Das Rocas - Reserva Biológica",
    "id": "46"
  },
  {
    "label": "Great Barrier Reef Marine Park",
    "id": "555394"
  },
  {
    "label": "Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument",
    "id": "555428"
  },
  {
    ...
  }
]

Field Descriptions for MPAs

GET LIST OF RFMOs

curl --location --request GET 'https://gateway.api.globalfishingwatch.org/v3/datasets/public-rfmo/context-layers' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer [TOKEN]"

// Make sure to replace [TOKEN] with your API Access Token.
const res = await fetch(
  'https://gateway.api.globalfishingwatch.org/v3/datasets/public-rfmo/context-layers',
  { headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer [TOKEN]' } }
)
const data = await res.json()

Make sure to replace [TOKEN] with your API Access Token. If the request is successful, the response returns:

[
  {
    "label": "LTA",
    "id": "LTA",
    "ID": "LTA"
  },
  {
    "label": "SEAFDEC",
    "id": "SEAFDEC",
    "ID": "SEAFDEC"
  },
  {
    "label": "IATTC",
    "id": "IATTC",
    "ID": "IATTC"
  },
  {
    "label": "APFIC",
    "id": "APFIC",
    "ID": "APFIC"
  },
  {
    "label": "IPHC",
    "id": "IPHC",
    "ID": "IPHC"
  },
  {
    "label": "ICCAT",
    "id": "ICCAT",
    "ID": "ICCAT"
  },
  {
    "label": "WCPFC",
    "id": "WCPFC",
    "ID": "WCPFC"
  },
  {
    "label": "CCAMLR",
    "id": "CCAMLR",
    "ID": "CCAMLR"
  },
  {
    ...
  }
]

Field Descriptions for RFMOs

Vessel API - Registry Codes - Data Sources

Vessel identity data is extracted from over 40 registries available either in the public domain or from authorities and researchers, including registries from regional fisheries management organizations, national registries, and lists compiled by researchers. Each of the lists has been obtained regularly since early 2019 and supplemented, when possible, with historical data to provide snapshots of a registry and its vessels over time. Where available, we collected information on vessel identity, vessel characteristics, owner name, owner nationality, and fishing authorization. The major sources of data are listed below.

We do not publicly disclose the raw information that we collect but use the acquired information uniquely for non-commercial purpose of aggregating it with other data sets.