SiriusXM today announced the launch of its new Fish Mapping service. This new, comprehensive SiriusXM Marine package – designed to help saltwater anglers locate fish faster, as well as save time and fuel – is now available on the GXM 54 satellite weather and radio receiver from Garmin International, Inc.

SiriusXM Marine’s new Fish Mapping service is powered by Maxar Technologies, an innovator in Earth Intelligence and Space Infrastructure. Fish Mapping provides regularly updated, science-based graphical information directly on compatible Garmin multi-function displays – even well beyond cellular range.

Maxar has provided enhanced oceanographic datasets and fishing recommendations prepared by the best oceanographers in the industry to commercial fishermen for over 20 years. Now, with the SiriusXM Marine Fish Mapping service, anglers can use the same technology to fish more effectively.

Offering premium marine features like recommended areas to find specific game fish, weed lines, sea surface temperatures and front strength, sub surface sea temperatures, and plankton concentration data, Fish Mapping is ideal for all salt-water anglers – whether they compete in fishing tournaments, take clients on charter trips, or simply fish for fun.

“We are extremely pleased to team up with Garmin and Maxar for the launch of this game-changing new service,” said Dave Wasby, VP Aviation, Marine, and Music for Business, SiriusXM. “With Garmin’s GXM 54 receiver, anglers can view graphical fishing information directly on the boat’s display. The images are refreshed automatically, without customers needing to initiate a new data request. This easy-to-use service will help anglers identify where game fish are likely to be biting – saving time to reach the best spots for a good day of fishing.”

“Garmin and SiriusXM have worked together for over a decade to provide mariners with best-in-class audio and weather services, and we’re proud to be the first to offer the new Fish Mapping service with our GXM 54 antenna,” said Dan Bartel, Garmin vice president of global consumer sales. “With Fish Mapping content delivered straight to your Garmin chartplotter, you’ll gain added awareness and confidence on the water so you can focus on what’s most important – finding and catching fish.”

“Through our extensive experience in artificial intelligence and machine learning, Maxar gathers content from many sources and combines it with our powerful geospatial analytics system to deliver insights and answers that help customers be more predictive in their decisions,” said Jeff Culwell, Maxar’s Chief Product Officer. “For SiriusXM Marine’s Fish Mapping service, we’re providing real-time intelligence that will give serious anglers a leg-up on the competition and help casual anglers enjoy more successful fishing trips.”

SiriusXM Marine’s new Fish Mapping service includes:

• Fishing Recommendations: View locations oceanographers recommend to find specific types of game fish, based on their expert analysis. The locations are overlaid on the angler’s chart and can be viewed in combination with other features.
• Weed Lines: View concentrations of floating algae/plants, which provide nutrients and cover, creating habitats for bait fish, shrimp, etc., and attract predatory game fish. Weed lines drift and shift over time, so they can be hard to locate. This feature shows anglers where weed lines have been sighted recently, or are most likely to be forming.
• Sea Surface Height Anomaly: View locations where the sea surface height is different than the surrounding area using actual radar data and models of the sea surface. Shows “upwelling” areas that create favorable conditions including nutrient-rich water that attracts bait fish and game fish – and helps avoid “downwelling” areas that are nutrient poor and don’t support favorable fishing conditions.
• Sea Surface Temperature Contours: View contour lines where there is sea surface temperature change from cool to warm that attracts bait fish. These contours help locate target species based on their preferred temperature range.
• Sea Surface Temperature Front Strength: View strength of ocean “fronts”, which are significant temperature changes that create distinct boundaries between bodies of water, concentrating nutrients which attracts bait fish. Strong fronts are good places to find game fish.
• 30m Subsurface Sea Temperatures: View the water temperature 30 meters below the surface. This feature identifies areas with the preferred temperature range of target game fish in the area below the surface where they are likely to be hunting.
• Plankton Concentration Contours: View areas of plankton concentrations. Plankton is the primary food source for most bait fish, which attract hungry game fish.
• Plankton Front Strength: View areas of greatest plankton concentrations with murky, nutrient-rich water favorable for baitfish that are next to areas with relatively little/no plankton with clear, predator-preferred water with better visibility for hunting.

Garmin’s GXM 54 is easy to install and use. With clear line of sight to the sky, its reliable antenna provides the best possible reception — even on the edges of SiriusXM’s coverage area.  

The Fish Mapping subscription is $99.99 per month plus applicable fees and taxes. In addition to the eight new fishing features, it includes all of SiriusXM’s weather information from the SiriusXM Marine Offshore Weather package. The subscription can be suspended at no charge for up to six months each year.

SiriusXM and Garmin have teamed up to offer $250 in combined rebates on the GXM 54 receiver. For details visit: https://garmin.blogs.com/promotions/2019/08/2019gxm54rebate.html.

SiriusXM’s services available on Garmin also include SiriusXM Marine Offshore Weather, SiriusXM’s top-level weather package, as well as SiriusXM’s audio entertainment programming.