A pioneering electronic mapping tool can detect possible human trafficking, forced labour and illegal fishing by commercial ships on the high seas, according to a new report by ocean conservation experts.

The investigation by Oceana, a US-based conservation advocacy group, uses the Global Fishing Watch mapping platform for the real-time tracking of fishing boats anywhere in the world to flag up suspicious behaviour and help the authorities with law enforcement.

The online monitoring system uses publicly available data to check questionable activities including port avoidance, extended time at sea, or the muting of a tracking device known as the Automatic Identification System (AIS) which shows the location of the vessel.

Experts say that irregular patterns in any of this data could indicate illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing – which exploits natural resources and threatens food insecurity – or to detect the trafficking and exploitation of workers on board the ships.

“Increased transparency of commercial fishing can help save the oceans,” said Beth Lowell, deputy vice president at Oceana.

“Illegal fishers and human traffickers can no longer hide beyond the horizon. Tools like Global Fishing Watch allow Oceana and others to identify suspicious patterns and flag higher risk behaviors for further investigation.”