Illegal fishing is a global issue that threatens the viability of fishing industries and biodiversity conservation. Management agencies typically use on‐ground surveillance to monitor and minimise illegal fishing practices, the efficacy of which may be enhanced by integrating emerging remote sensing technology. Affordable drones may contribute to cost‐effective detection of illegal fishing activity and associated gear, although their application has yet to be evaluated in many types of fisheries. Here, the utility of drones for the detection of crab traps and floats set in a shallow estuary was quantitatively tested, and the effects of survey altitudes, cameras and monitor screens on detection rates were determined. It was found that drone flight altitude and float colour influenced the detection rates of common crab trap floats, with infrared cameras improving the detection of floats camouflaged by black paint. However, the type of monitor screen used by the drone operator had no influence on the detection of crab traps. Overall, it appears drones can contribute to cost‐effective compliance in estuarine trap fisheries, and the approach can contribute to evidence‐based standard operating procedures.

中文翻译：

---

空中无人机技术可以帮助诱捕渔业的合规性

非法捕鱼是一个全球性问题，威胁着渔业的生存和生物多样性保护。管理机构通常使用地面监测来监测和尽量减少非法捕捞活动，通过整合新兴的遥感技术可以提高其效力。经济实惠的无人机可能有助于以具有成本效益的方式检测非法捕鱼活动和相关渔具，尽管它们的应用尚未在许多类型的渔业中进行评估。在这里，定量测试了无人机用于检测设置在浅河口的螃蟹陷阱和浮标的效用，并确定了测量高度、摄像机和监视器屏幕对检测率的影响。发现无人机飞行高度和浮标颜色影响了常见捕蟹浮标的检出率，红外摄像头提高了对被黑色油漆伪装的浮标的检测。然而，无人机操作员使用的监视器屏幕类型对捕蟹器的检测没有影响。总体而言，无人机似乎有助于河口诱捕渔业的成本效益合规性，并且该方法有助于基于证据的标准操作程序。