This study investigates the merits and drawbacks of satellite-automatic identification system (AIS) and night-time light remote sensing in monitoring pelagic lit fisheries in the North Pacific high seas.Both signals from AIS and night-time light remote sensing indicated an early fishing season during May‒July targeting the Central-East Stock, and a late fishing season during August‒November for the West Stock. However, there are still many difficulties for fishing information extraction from AIS data and nighttime satellite data are easily influenced by cloud conditions which we also detailed the drawbacks for these two technologies and provided potential solutions to optimise their vessel monitoring capabilities. Our findings suggest that AIS outperforms night-time satellite data in monitoring current fishing activities, while night-time satellite datasets date to earlier years and are historically more comparable to actual reports, and thus, are more suitable for analysing long-term changes in fishery activities. Data from both AIS and night-time remote sensing technologies could realistically depict lit fishery activities and inform the management of high-sea fishery resources.