MPA Patrol & Poaching Interdiction Simulator (2D)

Patrol Fleet

Patrol vessels 4

Detection tech: AIS + satellite coverage 55%

Illegal Fishing Pressure

Poacher incursion rate 0.60 boats/min

Live Readouts

Interception rate

Biomass inside MPA

Spillover biomass (outside)

Illegal catch (cumulative)

0.0 t

How it works

Fish biomass inside the no-take zone follows logistic growth minus losses from undetected illegal harvest:

dN_in/dt = r·N_in·(1 − N_in/K) − h(t)
h(t) = catch rate of poachers that evade detection

Each active poacher is detected as a Poisson process whose rate depends on patrol density and sensor quality:

λ = k · (patrols / MPA area) · techQuality
P(detected in dt) = 1 − e^(−λ·dt)

A detected poacher is intercepted (zero catch, returns to port); an undetected one keeps fishing and its catch is subtracted from N_in. Biomass also diffuses across the boundary into the adjacent fished zone — the real-world "spillover" effect that MPAs are prized for:

flux = D·(N_in − N_out)
dN_out/dt = flux − fishingPressure·N_out

Perimeter sweep concentrates patrol coverage where poachers actually cross the boundary, raising λ near the edge; random patrol spreads the same fleet uniformly, which is worse against edge incursions but better if incursions are already interior. Raising AIS/satellite coverage multiplies detection probability without adding a single extra vessel — reflecting how real MPA enforcement increasingly leans on remote sensing over pure patrol-boat hours. Drag the map to pan and scroll (or pinch) to zoom.

MPA boundary (no-take zone) Patrol vessel Poacher (undetected) Poacher (intercepted)

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