Google Earth’s satellite images have revealed overfishing in the Persian Gulf. Researchers used it to study the fish traps suggesting that a great number of undocumented fishes are caught.

Researchers from the University of British Columbia, Canada led by biologist Daniel Pauly counted the intertidal fishing weirs off the coast of six countries in the Persian Gulf using the virtual geographical program. Years before, fishing weirs were usually constructed with date palm fronds. Today, they are made of bamboo and iron or steel-coated mesh wires.

For centuries now, fishing weirs has been useful as a means of trapping and enclosing fishes, and in some regions, it might be one of the main contributing factors to the problem of bad records on fish catches.

In 2005, there were 1,900 fishing weirs in the coast of Persian Gulf and these fishing weirs roughly render 34,170 tons of different species of fishes. In that same year, the only reported fishing catches to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization only amounted to roughly 5,800 tons.

Furthermore, there were no documented and reported fishing catches from Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar in 2005.

The researchers said that the inconsistency in Iran is very complicated as there were 728 fishing weirs noted in that area that approximately provides 13,225 tons.

“Time and again we've seen that global fisheries catch data don't add up,” said Pauly in an interview with LiveScience. “Because countries don't provide reliable information on their fisheries' catches, we need to expand our thinking and look at other sources of information and new technologies to tell us about what's happening in our oceans.”

Aside from showing the images of overfishing, the researchers believe that the satellite images could also be used to expose unlawful marine practices, monitor activities in marine protected areas and assess impact of oil spills.

This study was published in the Journal of Marine Sciences.