Innovative Technological Soluations For Sea Fisheries Control And Enforcement - Machine Learning

1.1 The Authority is looking for Tenderer(s) for a desk top exercise seeking innovative technological solutions for sea and fisheries control and enforcement.

1.2 Defra and the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) would like to better understand the practicalities of using machine learning (and related areas such as artificial intelligence) for the purposes of fisheries control and enforcement. A desk-based exercise is required to build on previous Artificial Intelligence (AI) proof of concept work undertaken in 2018 looking at improving the efficiency and effectiveness of vessel inspections that take place at sea.

1.3 Machine learning used in analysis platforms has the potential to enable fishing activity to be identified and corroborated automatically, identifying apparent anomalies that characterise possible IUU fishing activity to be focussed on and analysed further. This has the potential to encourage greater levels of compliance, provide comprehensive intelligence and enable more efficient and effective enforcement methods. Data analysis platforms specialise in collecting large quantities of data ('big data') and analyse it through specific algorithms to reveal patterns, trends and associations. These platforms can present data to enforcement authorities through an intuitive interface to visualise complex data associations and create clear actionable outputs in the form of intelligence reports and real-time alerts for example. Data platforms support the current risk-based intelligence led approach to operational planning and enforcement.

1.4 We are keen to understand which existing projects or areas of work where machine learning and artificial intelligence is being trialled or currently used that has applicability to fisheries control and enforcement.