Michael is a data scientist at Lynker Analytics, a New Zealand based data science company, which specializes in geospatial data science and data driven insights using machine learning.

His expertise lies in developing innovative tools for electronic monitoring in fisheries management. Michael’s notable contributions include creating advanced algorithms for estimating fish length through segmentation and keypoint detection with sub-centimetre accuracy. He actively facilitates in sustainable fisheries management, blending cutting-edge technology with environmental stewardship.

My main career research track has been in fishing gear research and I wandered into EM as a way to efficiently account for commercial-scale catches for studies comparing performance of modified fishing gears. In 2014, that led into work on an EM project for the NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center (through the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission) where I have developed camera chutes (imaging enclosures through which fish are slid) to assess fish catches or discards and detection of bycatch species in deliveries of catches to processing plants. Both of these projects focused on the application of automated analysis of imagery through a collaboration with the University of Washington’s Information Processing Laboratory.

Katie Harrington is a Research Technician in the Center for Fisheries Electronic Monitoring at Mote Marine Laboratory (CFEMM). She supports various marine fisheries conservation projects through collaborations with commercial fishermen, electronic monitoring video review, data product automation, and AI algorithm development. She is passionate about using data and technology as a tool to advance the mission of protecting and restoring fisheries and the communities that depend on them. Ms. Harrington has a B.A. in Biology from the University of Florida and is currently pursuing a M.S. in Data Intelligence from the University of South Florida.

Kelly is a dedicated and passionate systems thinker with 17 years of diverse experience working towards market-based change in support of fishermen, communities, and conservation in both nonprofit and for-profit organizational leadership roles. She has an advanced education in social science, natural resource management, and business including an M.B.A. with an emphasis on seafood business. She is currently the Executive Director of Ocean Outcomes (O2), a nonprofit/civil society organization that works to advance economic, social, and environmental fisheries sustainability across the globe. O2 is active in catalyzing the adoption of electronic monitoring including in Taiwan and South Korea and is partnering with Conservation International and The Nature Conservancy to trial the application of EM for social responsibility.

PescaData enhancing data-driven decision making for sustainable fishing practices in Mexico, Latin America and the Caribbean. PescaData provides a software solution which improves data collection and communication among small-scale fishers and fishing organisations. Through the PescaData App, fishers can record and share data used on fishing trips (gear types, daily catches, expenses, bycatch), access weather forecasts, and implement community-based solutions for ocean sustainability contributing to SGDs 5, 8, 13 and 14. The software allows users to discuss and implement solutions without relying on traditional middlemen, thus accelerating peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and action.

The Center for Fisheries Electronic Monitoring at Mote (CFEMM) is the only program dedicated to developing and assessing electronic monitoring (EM) technology as a tool in the Gulf of Mexico commercial reef fish fishery to better meet the demand by industry and management for accurate, independent data to ensure long-term fishery health.

Volunteer commercial fishers partner with CFEMM scientists and Saltwater Inc., an EM equipment and software provider, to have specialized cameras, a computer processor, and sensors installed on their fishing vessels. These systems record the trip length, speed, hydraulic pressure, location, and fishing events (sets, soaks and hauls) on a timeline. Video recordings (with no sound) are reviewed confidentially by the CFEMM Team to document fishing effort, total catch and bycatch of species per event and trip, species kept/discarded, and species disposition at capture and release. CFEMM scientists and partner Waterinterface LLC. analyze the collected data to demonstrate and improve the available technology and data products — including much-needed bycatch and discard data — for management of the valuable Gulf reef fish fishery. CFEMM scientists correlate their EM trip data with identifiers for other fisheries monitoring data from the same trips, including observer logs, dealer trip tickets, and biological sampling to augment datasets for management needs.