The South Atlantic is not only a unique biodiversity reservoir in the world; it is also a scene of national sovereignty and an economic engine for Argentina. However, the wealth of our sea faces a silent and devastating threat: the so-called “ghost nets” of ghost fishing.
These are fishing materials lost, dragged by storms, or directly abandoned by illegal fishing, unreported and unregulated, which continue to trap and kill marine fauna uncontrollably.
In this scenario, technology positions itself as the great catalyst for conservation. Recently, at an international level, a strategic alliance between Accenture, WWF, and Microsoft developed GhostNetZero, a cloud-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform on Azure that revolutionizes the detection of these underwater nets, transforming sonar scans into precise recovery targets, reducing costs, and accelerating a process that previously took months of manual analysis.
This innovation opens a crucial window of opportunity for Argentina. Belén Arce, Sustainability Leader of Accenture Argentina, explains: “Technology knows no borders and today it has an urgent role in the climate agenda. AI tools like those we promote globally through GhostNetZero can be perfectly used in Argentina to enhance the conservation efforts of our sea. By automating the detection of waste on the seabed with 95% accuracy, we could provide scientific, public, and private organizations with unprecedented response capacity to clean our waters and protect the transzonal resources that define our sovereignty.”
The panorama in the Argentine Sea: sovereignty, science, and biodiversity
The loss of fishing nets is a complex reality. While local fishermen suffer accidents due to southern currents, the most alarming factor comes from foreign fleets operating at the edge of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) —the so-called “Mile 201”— pursuing critical resources like squid and hake.
A recent study by the National Institute of Fisheries Research and Development (Inidep) revealed that 76.2% of the bottom fishing hauls analyzed contained marine litter, mainly remnants of nets and equipment from foreign fleets, directly linking unregulated fishing with the degradation of the Argentine seabed.
This environmental impact was evidenced in a recent expedition by the Conicet that extended from Buenos Aires to Tierra del Fuego. Although scientists identified extraordinary biological milestones —such as the largest known coral reef Bathelia candida and 28 potential new species for science—, they also detected alarming levels of marine litter, including fishing nets, ropes, plastics, and even waste with foreign origin labels.
The danger of “ghost fishing”
The remnants of nets and fishing lines are deadly traps. Marine mammals, birds, and turtles suffer entanglements, suffocation, severe injuries, and feeding restrictions. On an environmental scale, plastic not only harms fauna but also alters the marine substrate and causes severe economic losses for legal fishing activities and tourism.
“Technology allows us to move from reaction to preventive action,” states Belén Arce, from Accenture Argentina. “The true value of solutions like GhostNetZero lies in collaboration: it allows research institutes, universities, companies, and the public sector to upload sonar data through a simple interface for the AI to scan, identify suspicious areas, and validate recovery targets. In a country with Argentina’s maritime extension, collective intelligence enhanced by technology is the key to scaling environmental care and defending, with precise data, our natural heritage.”
Results that inspire a global change
In its implementation phases in the northern hemisphere, the platform demonstrated its high efficiency: 35 tons of ghost nets have already been recovered in the Baltic Sea, and the AI model operates with a ~95% accuracy in detection. So far, more than 127 hours of sonar have been donated by research centers and companies to feed the algorithm.
The experience shows that collaboration between third sector organizations, technology consultancies like Accenture, and cloud giants like Microsoft can radically transform the health of the oceans, offering a scalable and efficient model for Argentina to lead environmental innovation in the region.
