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gfw-api-python-client

Python package for accessing data from Global Fishing Watch APIs

https://github.com/globalfishingwatch/gfw-api-python-client

Science Score: 67.0%

This score indicates how likely this project is to be science-related based on various indicators:

  • ✓
    CITATION.cff file
    Found CITATION.cff file
  • ✓
    codemeta.json file
    Found codemeta.json file
  • ✓
    .zenodo.json file
    Found .zenodo.json file
  • ✓
    DOI references
    Found 3 DOI reference(s) in README
  • ✓
    Academic publication links
    Links to: zenodo.org
  • ○
    Committers with academic emails
  • ○
    Institutional organization owner
  • ○
    JOSS paper metadata
  • ○
    Scientific vocabulary similarity
    Low similarity (11.2%) to scientific vocabulary

Keywords

api-wrapper globalfishingwatch mapping python
Last synced: 6 months ago · JSON representation ·

Repository

Python package for accessing data from Global Fishing Watch APIs

Basic Info
Statistics
  • Stars: 13
  • Watchers: 7
  • Forks: 2
  • Open Issues: 0
  • Releases: 3
Topics
api-wrapper globalfishingwatch mapping python
Created about 1 year ago · Last pushed 6 months ago
Metadata Files
Readme Changelog Contributing License Code of conduct Citation Security

README.md

Global Fishing Watch API Python Client

ci codecov pypi - version pypi - python versions license DOI

pre-commit action pre-commit mypy ruff code style: black conventional commits

Python package for accessing data from Global Fishing Watch (GFW) APIs.

Important: The gfw-api-python-client version 1 directly corresponds to Global Fishing Watch API version 3. As of April 30th, 2024, API version 3 is the standard. For the most recent API updates, refer to our API release notes.

Introduction

The gfw-api-python-client simplifies access to Global Fishing Watch (GFW) data through our APIs. It offers straightforward functions for retrieving GFW data. For R users, we also provide the gfwr package; learn more here

The Global Fishing Watch Python package currently works with the following APIs:

  • Map Visualization (4Wings API): Access AIS apparent fishing effort, AIS vessel presence, and SAR vessel detections between 2017 to ~5 days ago.

  • Vessels API: Search and retrieve vessel identity based on AIS self-reported data, combined with authorization and registry data from regional and national registries.

  • Events API: Retrieve vessel activity events such as encounters, loitering, port visits, fishing events, and AIS off (aka GAPs).

  • Insights API: Access vessel insights that combine AIS activity, vessel identity, and public authorizations. Designed to support risk-based decision-making, operational planning, and due diligence—particularly for assessing risks of IUU (Illegal, Unreported, or Unregulated) fishing.

  • Datasets API: Retrieve fixed offshore infrastructure detections (e.g., oil platforms, wind farms) from Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery, from 2017 up to 3 months ago, classified using deep learning.

  • References API: Access metadata for EEZs, MPAs, and RFMOs to use in Events API and Map Visualization (4Wings API) requests and analyses.

Note: See the Data Caveats and Terms of Use pages in the GFW API documentation for details on GFW data, API licenses, and rate limits.

Requirements

Installation

You can install gfw-api-python-client using pip:

bash pip install gfw-api-python-client

For detailed instructions—including how to set up a virtual environment—refer to the Installation Guide in the documentation.

Usage

After installation, you can start using gfw-api-python-client by importing it into your Python code:

```python import gfwapiclient as gfw

gfwclient = gfw.Client( accesstoken="", ) ```

For step-by-step instructions and examples, see the Getting Started and Usage Guides in the documentation.

Documentation

The full project documentation is available at globalfishingwatch.github.io/gfw-api-python-client.

To get started with the basics, head over to the Getting Started guide.

For detailed instructions and examples on interacting with the various APIs offered by Global Fishing Watch, explore the Usage Guides section.

For a complete reference of all available classes, methods, and modules, see the API Reference section.

Contributing

We welcome and appreciate contributions of all kinds to help improve this package!

Before getting started, please take a moment to review the following guides:

  • Contribution Guide – Learn how to propose changes, submit pull requests, and understand our development process.

  • Setup Guide – Get your development environment up and running.

  • Git Workflow – Understand our branching strategy and commit conventions.

If you have questions, ideas, or run into issues, feel free to open an issue or reach out — we’d love to hear from you!

Owner

  • Name: Global Fishing Watch
  • Login: GlobalFishingWatch
  • Kind: organization
  • Email: info@globalfishingwatch.org
  • Location: 0,0

Technology Illuminating the World's Fishing Fleet

Citation (CITATION.cff) 

cff-version: 1.2.0
title: "GlobalFishingWatch/gfw-api-python-client: Global Fishing Watch APIs Python Client"
message: "If you use this software, please cite it using the metadata below."
authors:
  - name: "The Global Fishing Watch Team"
    website: "https://globalfishingwatch.org/"
    email: "apis@globalfishingwatch.org"
abstract: "Python package for accessing data from Global Fishing Watch APIs."
version: "1.2.0"
doi: 10.5281/zenodo.15617433
license: "Apache-2.0"
license-url: "https://github.com/GlobalFishingWatch/gfw-api-python-client/blob/develop/LICENSE"
repository-code: "https://github.com/GlobalFishingWatch/gfw-api-python-client"
url: "https://github.com/GlobalFishingWatch/gfw-api-python-client"
date-released: "2025-09-02"
keywords:
  - "global fishing watch"
  - "gfw"
  - "apis"
  - "api client"
  - "fishing data"
  - "satellite data"
  - "vessel data"
  - "marine data"
  - "geospatial data"
  - "ocean monitoring"
  - "marine research"
  - "marine conservation"
  - "environmental research"
  - "ocean sustainability"
  - "ais"
  - "vms"
type: software

GitHub Events

Total
  • Create event: 17
  • Release event: 3
  • Watch event: 7
  • Delete event: 14
  • Member event: 1
  • Issue comment event: 2
  • Push event: 35
  • Public event: 1
  • Pull request review comment event: 7
  • Pull request review event: 8
  • Pull request event: 26
  • Fork event: 1
Last Year
  • Create event: 17
  • Release event: 3
  • Watch event: 7
  • Delete event: 14
  • Member event: 1
  • Issue comment event: 2
  • Push event: 35
  • Public event: 1
  • Pull request review comment event: 7
  • Pull request review event: 8
  • Pull request event: 26
  • Fork event: 1

Committers

Last synced: 9 months ago

All Time
  • Total Commits: 62
  • Total Committers: 4
  • Avg Commits per committer: 15.5
  • Development Distribution Score (DDS): 0.097
Past Year
  • Commits: 62
  • Committers: 4
  • Avg Commits per committer: 15.5
  • Development Distribution Score (DDS): 0.097
Top Committers
Name Email Commits
lykmapipo l****7@g****m 56
yaaNuamahGFW y****r@g****g 3
Tomás Link t****k@g****g 2
Gisela Morinigo g****o@g****m 1
Committer Domains (Top 20 + Academic)
globalfishingwatch.org: 2

Issues and Pull Requests

Last synced: 6 months ago

All Time
  • Total issues: 0
  • Total pull requests: 40
  • Average time to close issues: N/A
  • Average time to close pull requests: 3 days
  • Total issue authors: 0
  • Total pull request authors: 5
  • Average comments per issue: 0
  • Average comments per pull request: 0.38
  • Merged pull requests: 36
  • Bot issues: 0
  • Bot pull requests: 0
Past Year
  • Issues: 0
  • Pull requests: 40
  • Average time to close issues: N/A
  • Average time to close pull requests: 3 days
  • Issue authors: 0
  • Pull request authors: 5
  • Average comments per issue: 0
  • Average comments per pull request: 0.38
  • Merged pull requests: 36
  • Bot issues: 0
  • Bot pull requests: 0
View more stats
Top Authors
Issue Authors
Pull Request Authors
  • lykmapipo (30)
  • yaaNuamahGFW (4)
  • tomaslink (3)
  • jordan-gillard (2)
  • giselamo (1)
Top Labels
Issue Labels
Pull Request Labels
enhancement (22) documentation (13)

Packages

  • Total packages: 1
  • Total downloads:
    • pypi 168 last-month
  • Total dependent packages: 0
  • Total dependent repositories: 0
  • Total versions: 6
  • Total maintainers: 4
pypi.org: gfw-api-python-client

Python package for accessing data from Global Fishing Watch APIs.

  • Versions: 6
  • Dependent Packages: 0
  • Dependent Repositories: 0
  • Downloads: 168 Last month
Rankings
Dependent packages count: 9.5%
Average: 31.5%
Dependent repos count: 53.4%
Maintainers (4)
tomasjuanlink lykmapipo yaa.fordjour gfwapis
Last synced: 6 months ago