exactEarth Ltd. (TSX: XCT) (the “Company”), and DigitalGlobe Inc. (NYSE:DGI), today announced a Strategic Alliance (the “Alliance”) to offer joint services to the commercial fishing industry and to aid in the combating of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.
Today, IUU fishing is recognized as a major threat to achieving sustainable fisheries, with the potential to cause an irreversible change in ocean ecosystems. Several decades of overfishing in the world’s major fisheries has created large declines in commercially important fish populations, thus hindering the ability to feed the growing global population and costing governments tens of billions of dollars in lost revenue annually.
The Alliance will see exactEarth’s advanced automatic identification system (AIS) maritime information services integrated with DigitalGlobe’s high-accuracy, high-resolution commercial satellite imagery. The integrated solution will leverage both organizations’ big data and predictive analytics capabilities in order to help governments to address IUU fishing and also their broader maritime surveillance.
“26 million tonnes of fish, representing approximately $23 billion in lost revenue, are taken each year through illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing,” said Peter Mabson, CEO of exactEarth. “This has created a compelling case for governments and commercial organization to find a solution to stem their IUU losses. With DigitalGlobe we believe we have the solution required and we will be first-to-market with a satellite-based AIS system to solve this problem. Our Alliance will enable governments and commercial organizations to monitor fishing activity in and around their borders, respond to suspicious activity and hold vessels accountable for their catch.”
“Illegal fishing costs countries billions of dollars each year and impacts livelihoods of millions,” said Tony Frazier, SVP & GM of Services for DigitalGlobe. “This partnership will bring to market the first commercial solution to combat illegal fishing, and the combined capabilities of DigitalGlobe and exactEarth will allow stakeholders to make decisions with confidence to control the serious problem of IUU fishing. The Alliance will enable our customers to receive AIS data covering a broader territory, which in turn will help them to enhance their overall maritime governance decisions and increase transparency for our changing planet.”
About exactEarth Ltd.
exactEarth is a leading provider of global maritime vessel data for ship tracking and maritime situational awareness solutions. Since its establishment in 2009, exactEarth has pioneered a powerful new method of maritime surveillance called Satellite-AIS (“S-AIS”) and has delivered to its clients a view of maritime behaviours across all regions of the world’s oceans unrestricted by terrestrial limitations. exactEarth has deployed an operational data processing supply chain involving a constellation of satellites, receiving ground stations, patented decoding algorithms and advanced “big data” processing and distribution facilities. This ground-breaking system provides a comprehensive picture of the location of AIS equipped maritime vessels throughout the world and allows exactEarth to deliver data and information services characterized by high performance, reliability, security and simplicity to large international markets. For more information, visit exactearth.com.
About DigitalGlobe
DigitalGlobe is a leading provider of commercial high-resolution earth observation and advanced geospatial solutions that help decision makers better understand our changing planet in order to save lives, resources and time. Sourced from the world’s leading constellation, our imagery solutions deliver unmatched coverage and capacity to meet our customers’ most demanding mission requirements. Each day customers in defense and intelligence, public safety, civil agencies, map making and analysis, environmental monitoring, oil and gas exploration, infrastructure management, navigation technology, and providers of location-based services depend on DigitalGlobe data, information, technology and expertise to gain actionable insight.
