Google is teaming up with an environmental nonprofit to release a new technology platform called “Global Fishing Watch” that aims to use satellite data to curb overfishing.

The tech giant teamed with SkyTruth and advocacy group Oceana to launch the platform as part of a larger effort to increase accountability on the open seas, a difficult space to watch over, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

Much of what takes place on the high seas is “invisible,” said John Amos, president of SkyTruth, in a press release. “That has been a huge barrier to understanding and showing the world what’s at stake for the ocean,” he said.

Global Fishing Watch collects data from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) in order to track the locations of ships, using speed and direction to differentiate fishing vessels from other ships like those transporting cargo. It is then able to map fishing activity worldwide and watch how many hours a vessel spends casting its nets.

The tool could prove useful to protecting the cod population after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) decided to close off most of the Northeastern United States to cod fishing. NOAA believes overfishing is severely impacting cod populations, which drove the move. The catch quotas have been reduced by 80 percent for Gulf of Maine cod and 60 percent for Georges Bank cod already, but officials were finding that population numbers weren’t rebounding in response.

Cod fishermen obviously don’t like the decision as it effects their livelihoods, but NOAA is concerned that cod populations are only at about 4 percent of a sustainable level. Due to the fact that low population numbers are not well understood, NOAA urged local fishers to work with scientists to understand the problem in order to restore fishing back to usual levels.

Google’s entry into the field could help deal with those concerns. It could also help NOAA crack down on illegal fishing, which in turn could help legitimate fishermen.