BIM

Informatics in support of the Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management, Phase 2

jkeane — Mon, 27 Apr 2020 14:21:48 +0000

Informatics in support of the Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management, Phase 2

Data is a key input into the advice which drives fisheries management but access to it is often restricted to scientists. This project provides tools for a number of different audiences to discover and explore the fisheries data that is collected within Ireland. Data can be difficult to interpret if you are not familiar with its context so rather than just providing the data itself this project has developed graphical data-driven tools and applications that will make its interpretation easier.

Improving inter-organisational collaborations enables ongoing data integration initiatives and maximises the utility of integrated fisheries information to address the CFP reform objectives. Future fisheries management tools will need to include real time management such as discard avoidance measures, spatio-temporal closures, spatio-temporal & technical incentives, smarter targeting etc. Reversing the burden of proof should incentivise fully documented fisheries introducing new data collection requirements. Information on fishing impacts on the marine environment and biodiversity and effects of the environment on fishing opportunities are also poorly integrated, and a joined up approach will greatly simplify EBAFM realisation. Social and economic data will need to be integrated with existing fisheries control and scientific data in a more effective way.

In phase 1 the Fisheries Infomatics project has developed four on line apps. Phase 1 has also involved a knowledge and information sharing element. This included making all the source code publically available on GitHub, training scientist in the MI on best practice for code management and development and training for updates and maintenance of existing apps.

Phase 2 will involve collaborations with other national and international organisations to develop 4 new apps. These apps will include:

The fisheries TCM chart. This will be a collaboration with BIM and SFPA. The aim of the app is to make a user friendly electronic version of the fisheries management chart produced each year by BIM. Project planning and initial scoping has already commenced.
Marine Biodiversity App. The aim of this app is to put a Marine interface on the National Biodiversity Centre’s databases. It will also involve sharing existing MI records of species occurrences with the national biodiversity centre.
Mixed fisheries app. This will involve a collaboration with ICES and the mixed fisheries working group (WGMIXFISH) to develop new tools to interface with mixed fisheries data.

The use case for the final app will be based on emerging priorities. The project team are using an agile approach to develop these apps and rather than specifying the last app it is more innovative to explore emergent needs. Informatics in support of the CFP was identified as a priority action for support under Ireland’s EMFF OP to be implemented through the Marine Biodiversity Scheme.

An important consideration of this project is that it will make use of the Marine Institute’s common digital infrastructure – the “Digital Ocean” framework. This means that it can work with other projects within the Marine Institute to create lasting value. A steering committee consisting of representatives from the Marine Institute’s fisheries and IT/data management sections will meet regularly during the project’s lifetime both to ensure it is progressing correctly and to agree on how the outputs will be managed after the project ends.

jkeane Mon, 04/27/2020 - 14:21

Partners:

Phase 1 of the project has concentrated on the data that the Marine Institute collects and stores as part of Ireland’s responsibilities under the reformed Common Fisheries Policy. Phase 2 of the project will widen its scope and see the Marine Institute working with partners such as DAFM, DHPLG, DCHG, SFPA, and BIM to design and deploy applications that are of joint interest.

Duration:

The project is carried out in two phases. Phase 1 runs between 2017 and 2018 whilst Phase 2 will run in 2019 and 2020.

Project Outputs:

The secure reporting database developed during Phase 1 will be maintained and populated with the relevant data sets identified during the project.
Four new applications will be built and deployed during Phase 2 in collaboration with other organisations.
Final source code to be publicly available and shared using GitHub or similar platforms. The underpinning data will also be made publically available.
Existing apps will be maintained and developed further as necessary.
A number of training courses will be held to train MI staff and other collaborators on the various app development tools. Staff will be mentored on code development management for their own applications.
Documentation will be developed and maintained for all the apps.

The above “use cases” will have anticipated end users including: Fishing industry, Environmental Non-Governenmental Organisations, policy makers, scientists, students and interested public

The individual apps developed in phase one and now being maintained and populated can be accessed using the following links:

Species Dashboard
https://shiny.marine.ie/speciesdash
People can learn about fish species in Irish waters and explore their data with the Species Dashboard - this is a web application that makes biological fisheries data more available to all interested parties. In particular, it allows people to explore the length, weight, and age data of commercial species that are caught around Ireland and allows the effects of factors such as years, sex, area, and gear on the fish to be investigated.

Digital Stock Book
https://shiny.marine.ie/stockbook/
The Stock Book is produced annually by the Marine Institute and provides up to date scientific information on the state of the fisheries resources exploited by the Irish fleet. It provides the latest scientific advice that informs fishing opportunities for the following year. The Stock Book has been published by the Marine Institute since 1993 and has evolved considerably over time. The Digital Stock Book app makes this advice available on-line in an interactive way – for example it includes a forecasting tool that allows users to see the projected impact of different fishing scenarios.

Irish Groundfish Survey (IGFS) Data Explorer
https://shiny.marine.ie/igfs/ (in development)
The IGFS is part of an internationally coordinated series of demersal trawl surveys that provides data on fish stocks that are not available from sampling commercial fishing trips. It provides both environmental and biological data on areas of high and low commercial activity. The IGFS app allows users to explore the results of the survey using a number of tools – people can explore the higher level summary information and delve into species specific data.

Cod Tagging
https://shiny.marine.ie/tagging/
The Marine Institute, in partnership with AFBI in Northern Ireland and CEFAS in the UK, are conducting a cod tagging project in the Irish Sea. The aim of this mapping application was to create a graphical data-driven tool to look at the data collected by the project. It visualises the locations of releases and recaptures of the fish and the maps can be downloaded. For the recapture data, the user can also customise plots and export them.

Expected Benefit:

Digitisation and dissemination of fisheries data to improve accessibility of information for a variety of endusers including policy makers, stakeholders, scientists and the general public.

Integration and improved accessibility of different data sources of fisheries, biodiversity, environmental, and economic data to be used as decision making tools for a variety of endusers including policy makers, stakeholders, scientists and the general public.

Engagement with key data stake-holders including SFPA, BIM, DAFM, DHPCLG, and DCHG and the national biodiversity centre; resolving any data governance issues and identifying applications that support enduser requirements. Phase 2 of the project will include implementing and deploying applications with these partners.

Further Information:

Further details available on www.emff.marine.ie
Contact: informatics@marine.ie

Project Cost - Projected:

€798,000

Related Projects:

Informatics in Support of Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management - Phase 1

Project Tags:

Biodiversity

Fisheries

Informatics

Support for MSFD and Biodiversity Support

Phase:

Project Status:

Completed

Species Dashboard

Digital Stock Book

Irish Groundfish Survey (IGFS) Data Explorer

Cod Tagging

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Management and Restoration of Crayfish Stocks Phase 2

jkeane — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 10:17:20 +0000

Management and Restoration of Crayfish Stocks Phase 2

Crayfish stocks are heavily depleted in Irish waters. This depletion has been driven by over exploitation since the introduction of tangle netting in the 1970s. The restoration potential relies on acquiring better data on crayfish essential habitat, information on migration and stock structure and in managing fishing interactions. The specific project objectives and tasks are:

Characterisation of crayfish habitat at selected sites to improve knowledge for spatial management including the value of reserves.
Crayfish habitat will be characterised and mapped using a combination acoustic data from the national seabed survey and SCUBA and vessel based surveys at selected sites. The extent of reef habitat is available from the national seabed survey data. The extent of reef suitable for crayfish is a subset of this. Crayfish live in physically complex elevated and structured reef habitat. Analysis of slope and elevation of existing shaded relief data for reef habitat can be used to further define the extent of reef that may definable physically as crayfish reef. The physical structure of crayfish reef can be described and ‘ground-truthed’ for a number of areas using SCUBA to further inform the classification of reef habitat. SCUBA will also be used in a limited number of areas to classify crayfish reef to Eunis level 4 or 5 based on characterisation of species diversity in these areas. This will be extended using vessel based camera and video surveys. The output will be a crayfish essential habitat map which has been biologically characterised. This provides the basis for Task 2 (modelling larval dispersal and recruitment from and onto reef), indicates the potential for crayfish stock restoration given available unoccupied habitat, is linked to National Seabed survey priorities for development of habitat maps for priority inshore waters and provides additional data for conservation objective setting of reef which is an Annex I habitat in the Habitats Directive. This work began in 2017 and due to logistics and weather delays the contract issued to MERC Ltd will run into 2019 but with no additional funding over that allocated in 2017.
Assessment of crayfish movement, migration, growth and stock status using mark recapture data.
The work undertaken in 2017 and 2018 will continue. Significant numbers of re-captures were recorded in 2017 and 2018 from the 2017 tag release programme. The industry forums have proposed to give legal protection to marked tagged crayfish from 2019 to facilitate research and to increase spawning potential. The tagging programme will be funded by the BIM inshore fisheries scheme in 2019.
Assessment of catch and by-catch species composition in the commercial tangle net fleet. Observer data in 2017 and Skipper data from 2 vessels in 2018 provided comprehensive information on size composition, catch rate, tag recaptures and by-catch. This work will continued in 2019 and 2020.
Management measures for stock recovery and to reduce the effects of the fishery on biodiversity.
This could include changes from netting to potting or temporary time closures, spatial closures, and monitoring of changes in population.

jkeane Thu, 04/23/2020 - 10:17

Lead Partner:

Inshore Fishing Sector

Partners:

BIM

Duration:

The project has a 2 year duration and runs between 2019 and 2020.

Project Outputs:

Data sets: size composition, catch and effort, tag releases, tag recaptures, georeferenced data, acoustic map data on seabeds, biological data on reef fauna, distribution of crayfish reef habitat, modelled larval dispersal data and maps. To be incorporated into existing Marine Institute data bases where appropriate.

Report on fine scale acoustic mapping of crayfish reefs and the distribution of crayfish reef habitat.
Report on larval dispersal modelling.
Report on catch and by-catch in the crayfish fishery.
Report on tag release and recapture of crayfish.

Incorporation of data and new information into stock assessment and scientific advice and publications/dissemination thereof.

Expected Benefit:

Management of crayfish stocks: Information from the project will be collated and used to design management measures for the fishery with the objective of re-building crayfish stocks and reducing the environmental effects of the current set net fishery. Particular emphasis will be placed in areas where by-catch is significant and where the reef data shows potential for re-building. Measures might include the increased use of spatial reserves for crayfish, changing from set nets to trap fisheries and temporary closures to enable stock recovery or inclusion of additional technical conservation measures. Improved scientific knowledge on the essential habitat, stock structure and life cycle/connectivity of crayfish stocks in SW Ireland. Overall Expected benefits are:

1. Improved scientific knowledge on the fishery and its impact on target stock and biodiversity

2. Proposed management measures to restore crayfish stocks and protect biodiversity impacted by the fishery taking account of the above.

3. Dissemination of results and related management consideration at regional/national inshore management fora.

Further Information:

Contact Oliver Tully at oliver.tully@marine.ie

Project Cost - Projected:

€180,000

Related Projects:

Management and Restoration of Crayfish Stocks

Project Tags:

Phase:

Project Status:

Completed

Publication

Crayfish Notice Crayfish Notice

Publication

Catch and bycatch in the tangle net fishery for crayfish (Palinurus elephas) off the south west coast of Ireland Catch and bycatch in the tangle net fishery for crayfish (Palinurus elephas) off the south west coast of Ireland

Restoration of Crayfish

Your browser does not support iframes, but you can visit Restoration of Crayfish

Informatics in Support of Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management - Phase 1

dkelly — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 07:10:17 +0000

Informatics in Support of Ecosystem Based Fisheries Management - Phase 1

Some fisheries data is confidential so all project work has been performed with security in mind with the aim being to make data sets as accessible as possible whilst respecting existing data protection and data sensitivity requirements.

Knowledge-sharing and capacity building is embedded within the project – this has taken the form of presentations by the project personnel at the Marine Institute, to local user groups, and to the wider public at events such as SeaFest. The computer code outputs from the project will also be shared in an open-manner so that the wider community can have access to them.

dkelly Wed, 06/27/2018 - 07:10

Partners:

Duration:

The project is carried out in two phases. Phase 1 runs between 2017 and 2018 whilst Phase 2 will run in 2019 and 2020.

Project Outputs:

The project is ongoing and completion of tasks is in progress:

A reporting database infrastructure that allows a number of data sources to be harmonised and integrated with access control to allow different users and applications to access different levels of data. The reporting database is populated with the relevant data sets identified during the project
A number of applications are built using the reporting infrastructure. These include:

Expected Benefit:

Integration and improved accessibility of different data sources of fisheries, environmental, and economic data to be used as decision making tools for a variety of end-users including policy makers, stakeholders, scientists and the general public.

Further Information:

Further details available on www.emff.marine.ie
Contact: informatics@marine.ie

Project Tags:

Biodiversity

Fisheries

Informatics

Support for MSFD and Biodiversity Support

Phase:

Project Status:

Completed

Publication

Project Insert Project Insert