Study uses AI audio analysis to measure bomb fishing in Indonesia

Researchers reporting in Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation used an AI model to analyze underwater recordings from the Spermonde Archipelago in Indonesia for bomb-fishing blasts. Across 16 months, the study recorded nearly 3,570 incidents in 3,650 hours of audio, or one blast every 62 minutes on average. The team said its model could process a month of audio in four hours, creating a lower-cost monitoring method that could identify activity hotspots for patrols or restoration responses.