The Bahía de Loreto National Park is under constant risk due to illegal fishing and its difficult detection. Although there is legal clarity and a legal framework to sanction those who engage in this practice, which is harmful to the ecosystem, Mexican authorities face a complex task given the large area that must be supervised and monitored, as well as the lack of tools to detect illegal fishermen in a timely manner.
Therefore, at Pronatura Noroeste we took an important step to strengthen the protection of Bahía de Loreto, with the first successful flight test of a surveillance and reconnaissance drone. We carried this out in collaboration with the national park staff, which provides new hope to ensure that environmental regulations will be respected and, consequently, the vulnerable species of the Bahía de Loreto National Park will be protected.
The drone used was an Edge 130 model, which operates through links to the Marine Monitor software, known as M2. This tool was acquired by Pronatura Noroeste and will allow for the establishment of high-precision surveillance in the park to detect irregular behavior among the boats that navigate in the national park.
This high-tech method will make it possible to expand surveillance zones to securely record the location and movements of suspicious vessels. The drone and the M2 system will be operated by National Park personnel, who are in charge of safeguarding the species and their habitat.
The images captured by the drone and the interpreted data (done with the support of our technical staff) will be sent to the authorities so that they have useful information to put together the files and apply the corresponding sanctions, in accordance with the law for the benefit of the ecosystem and the species that inhabit it.
If you would like to support surveillance with drones in Bahía de Loreto, make your contribution here.
Traceability in the Upper Gulf of California, a StoryMap on sustainable fishing
2024-08-02
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