This project aims to contribute to the post-processing of benthic macro-invertebrate by-catch images and underwater imagery collected during survey leg 3.3 (Deep-sea fisheries resources in the SIOFA Convention Area) conducted aboard the R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen under the FAO EAF-Nansen Programme and the Common Oceans Deep-sea Fisheries Project. The mission generated an integrated dataset combining trawl bycatch sampling, van Veen grab sediment sampling, and deep-sea video observations across key seamount systems (Walter’s Shoal, Station X, Banana) (see paper SC-11-52). These data are directly relevant to the identification and mapping of Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems (VMEs) as defined by FAO guidelines and implemented under SIOFA conservation measures. They also contribute to the scientific foundations required for implementation of the BBNJ Agreement, including area-based management tools, environmental baselines, and marine genetic resources documentation. However, the imagery currently remains unannotated.
Dedicated funding is required to:
- Recruit technical support for systematic annotation of photos and video;
- Integrate imagery-based datasets to produce quantitative VME maps and benthic community analyses.
This post-processing phase is essential to transform field collections into robust, policy-relevant outputs supporting VME protection, trawling impact assessment, and the establishment of a baseline (“state zero”) for long-term monitoring in the SIOFA Convention Area.
Within this project, it is expected that the project lead will develop external funding applications to supplement the MoP funding.
By conducting this project, the SIOFA Scientific Committee will:
- Reinforce FAO-compliant VME identification and protection,
- Strengthen regional implementation of ecosystem-based fisheries management,
- Align SIOFA actions with the objectives of the BBNJ Agreement,
- Ensure that a substantial international scientific investment delivers its full conservation and management value.
Objectives:
- Recruitment of dedicated technical personnel for video and image annotation, to implement a standardized protocol identifying all organisms and events recorded about VME indicator taxa. For each entry, the resulting annotation data table will include the reference to each annotated video/image, the timecode, the number of observed organisms for each group/species, the identification of observed organisms. Annotation protocol and subsequent identifications of observed VME organisms will be provided by project leader. The precision of the identifications will be taxa dependent, at the species level when feasible.
- Production of VME indicator taxa maps based on annotation data, highlighting densities of VME organisms and benthic profiles for each sampling site.