"MeshAtlantic Workshop": The acquisition of underwater images assists on the seabed mapping

A workshop on the application of video techniques for mapping marine habitats took place at the end of last June at the University of Algarve. The workshop was carried out under the MeshAtlantic project

A total of 114 participants from 17 countries (e.g. India, Mexico, Brazil or Canada, and several European countries) attended the event. Twenty nine academic institutions and of seven private corporations were represented.

The workshop addressed several issues, including video acquisition and processing, systems for video annotation, and statistical modeling for mapping of marine habitats. All issues included both a technical approach and as well as a demonstration of its applicability through case study.
The workshop was also enriched by the presentation of several international research projects present, other than MeshAtlantic, the project which have sponsored workshop.

One of the most important outputs from this workshop is the application of the results to marine habitat mapping and the implementation of the European habitat classification (EUNIS).
In this respect, Pal Buhl-Mortensen, Norwegian scientist and leader of the working group of ICES in mapping habitats, emphasized that important steps are being taken in Europe towards standardization of sampling methods, data processing and habitat classification.

Jorge Gonçalves, researcher CCMAR / Algarve University and coordinator of the event, emphasized that "the applications of scientific underwater imaging are enormous, allowing, in a non-destructive way, the spatial planning of marine habitats, conservation of marine biodiversity and study of the impact of fisheries, aquaculture and exploitation of energy resources like wind and oil.”

Click here to see the photographic gallery.

"QPEIXE": searching for the Portuguese marine fauna - The new Costal Fisheries Research Group (CFRG) project .

QPEIXE is our most recent project. It aims to obtain information  on several marine species (both fish and invertebrates) of the portuguese waters. During the next 3 years scientists and general public will participate and gather information on species distribution and abundance along the shallow coastal waters of Portugal.

Click here (webpage in portuguese) to participate and learn more about this project

RENSUB project: Recently created Webpage

The RENSUB project ("Cartography and characterization of the marine communities off the Algarve Coast") has a webpage. 

Click here (webpage in portuguese) to visit the webpage and check all the recent information about this project.

A new Fusinus species was discovered off the Algarve coast, south Portugal. [see related newletter]