NOAA Demonstration Confirms ThayerMahan's Ability to Detect IUU Fishing

GROTON, Conn., March 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- ThayerMahan, a leader in autonomous maritime surveillance and acoustic intelligence, today announced the successful completion of its NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Law Enforcement-sponsored IUU (Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated) Fishing Detection and Interdiction Demonstration. The 18-day operation, conducted in the Gulf of Maine, validated ThayerMahan's solutions as part of a fully uncrewed, layered surveillance architecture capable of wide-area detection, classification, documentation, and cueing against IUU fishing activity.

Throughout the operation, ThayerMahan's mobile Outpost^® acoustic sensing platforms equipped with ThayerMahan's linear arrays and leading-edge classification systems delivered continuous maritime domain awareness and actionable intelligence. These systems stayed on mission through high winds, heavy seas, and extended cloud cover. In addition to the operational targets, Outpost autonomously detected vessels at long range, including those that were not transmitting via the Automatic Identification System (AIS), and classified vessel activity. All mission data was securely transmitted to the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory's PROTEUS COP Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) system, which enabled NOAA analysts to visualize and correlate detections in near-real-time.

"This demonstration is important for our maritime national security, and the preservation of U.S. marine resources," said Greg Sabra, Vice President Offshore Programs at ThayerMahan, and retired Coast Guard officer. "We've proven to NOAA, the Coast Guard, and their partners that ThayerMahan's advanced sensing and data flows give them a dependable, scalable, and repeatable way to observe protected waters and areas of interest, around the clock, with no crewed vessels or aircraft in the loop. This is how the United States can combat illicit actors at operational scale."

"Autonomous systems can fundamentally change how we observe activity at sea," added Dr. Kevin Lopes, Vice President Marketing & Sales at ThayerMahan and CAPT (USCG Ret.). "The ability to detect beyond visual range, characterize behavior acoustically, and corroborate those observations provides a level of situational awareness not previously achievable at this scale. This kind of persistent, data-driven monitoring strengthens the ability to protect marine resources, understand activity in managed areas, and support enforcement decisions."

The operation proved that uncrewed assets can fill enforcement gaps in marine protected areas and the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. Outpost identified vessels and activity patterns including trawling and loitering, to reveal fishing behavior, and localized contacts beyond visual range. NOAA analysts observed the full identification and interdiction workflow in real time, with contact reports delivered into federal systems quickly enough to inform live enforcement decisions.

"This success reinforces the operational readiness of our systems to support federal agencies across their mission areas," said Chris Glander, President ThayerMahan Offshore and CAPT (USCG Ret.). "From fisheries enforcement and marine sanctuary protection, to coastal and border security, to countering trafficking and grey-zone tactics, ThayerMahan is ready to deploy now. We've proven that full-stack autonomous operations are viable, and we've proven that our technology is highly capable."

ThayerMahan's results in the operation establish a clear path towards integration of uncrewed systems into routine enforcement operations. The capabilities demonstrated in the Gulf of Maine are adaptable to additional regions, environments, and applications. ThayerMahan systems provide a scalable architecture to allow for persistent maritime domain awareness that supports national strategic objectives.

About ThayerMahan's Acoustic Intelligence Solutions
ThayerMahan is the premiere provider of end-to-end unmanned acoustic intelligence solutions. TransparenSea^® software, technology, and analysis drive ThayerMahan's superior acoustic awareness, with edge processing, digital signal processing, and API integrations to watch floors and C2 systems. Outpost^® and SeaPicket^® deliver fixed and mobile undersea domain awareness from scalable, fully mature, productized platforms.

About ThayerMahan^®

ThayerMahan, Inc. is a maritime technology company specializing in unmanned acoustic intelligence, persistent undersea surveillance, and non-kinetic counter-UUV capabilities. The company provides its government and commercial customers with end-to-end autonomous system deployment, field operations, continuous data collection, and advanced analytics. Using state-of-the-art acoustic and electronic sensors integrated across a range of surface and subsurface platforms, ThayerMahan delivers tailored capabilities that support mission-critical defense, security, and infrastructure protection requirements. Headquartered in Groton, CT, ThayerMahan also maintains offices in Lowell, MA, and Arlington, VA. For more information, please visit www.thayermahan.com or contact the company at [email protected]. 

MEDIA CONTACT:

Dr. Kevin Lopes
VP, Marketing,
ThayerMahan, Inc.
M: +1 860 287 3563
E: [email protected]

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SOURCE ThayerMahan, Inc.