SmartFish Inc., the business side, sells their catch into more profitable markets, rewarding fishers like Porfirio for their more responsible fishing and incentivizing them to further improve their performance. Core to SmartFish Inc’s model are shorter supply chains, rigorous sourcing policies, comprehensive traceability systems and full transparency, including open-book’ negotiations. Unfortunately, these basic approaches are lamentably unusual in the extremely opaque seafood sector.

The New South Wales Rural Fire Service is working with Minderoo Foundation and XPRIZE to test the technologies as part of the competition. Rob Rogers, NSW RFS Commissioner said, “Early detection and response are crucial for optimal outcomes in protecting communities. It is vital that fire agencies continue to assess and adopt new technologies to ensure they are ready for future extreme fire seasons. XPRIZE Wildfire provides a great opportunity to see the exciting future of firefighting.”

Despite the lack of progress towards fisheries sustainability globally, there have been pockets of success where interventions have improved fisheries outcomes. Important lessons can be learned from these ‘bright spots’ – instances where strong action and innovative solutions are improving fisheries outcomes. These case studies highlight successful approaches to inspire new solutions to address fisheries challenges.

The United States provides some insight into the power of fisheries management to impact stock health. Alaska is home to the largest fisheries in the country – including pollock, cod, sole, salmon, crab, herring and halibut – many of which have sustained Alaskan communities since humans first arrived. Offshore fisheries were developed far more recently by foreign vessels, until the declaration of the United States’ EEZ in . By that time, industrial fishing in the North Atlantic had already overfished many stocks, and Alaska’s managers, scientists and fishermen had seen the catastrophic consequences of poor fisheries management. As a result, managers had learned the lessons of the North Atlantic and fishing pressure never rose too high — the abundance of the fish has remained well above target levels.

“We conducted the largest evaluation of the quality and accuracy of labels for seafood products sold in Australia, assessing six seafood groups including hoki, prawns, sharks and rays, snapper, squid and cuttlefish, and tuna,” Dr Wilcox said. “We tested samples from fish markets, restaurants, and supermarkets, including domestically caught and imported products and both packaged and fresh products.”