Deep Vision to solve EU’s discard ban
The Deep Vision system has been tested in the Mediterranean this April as part of the Horizon 2020 funded MINOUW. The project works towards reducing unwanted catches in the European fisheries and targets the discard ban that is gradually being phased in over the continent.From 2 to 10 April researchers from the Institute of Marine Science (ICM) in Barcelona conducted a field test of the Deep Vision underwater camera system that makes it possible to sample fish in the trawl for length and species without bringing the catch on board the vessel.The field test was carried out on the R/V “García del Cid”, belonging to Spain’s National Research Council. The mission was led by Dr Montserrat Demestre, researcher at ICM, and included other scientists from IMR (Norway), CIBM (Italy), CCMAR (Portugal) as well as local fishers, who facilitated this trial by providing their own fishing gear and expertise throughout the trawling operations.In 2015 EU introduced the landing obligation to end the discarding of fish back into the sea after it has been caught. The landing obligation is gradually being phased in and will by 2019 require all catch in EU to be landed and counted against the quotas. The EU-funded MINOUW project, led by ICM researcher Dr Francesc Maynou, works to solve the problem of banning discards and bringing all unwanted catches onboard following the discard ban. As a non-invasive sampling tool, Deep Vision has been tested as a potential technological solution to minimising unwanted catches, pre-harvest mortality and post-harvest discards.The field test served to deploy the system in the Mediterranean for the first time, in a different environment to its original development location in Norway. The cruise provided valuable images of a new set of species than previously photographed by the system and the experience will help improve Deep Vision's operability in future sea trials.— Being part of a European project is very important for us as Deep Vision targets the aim of the discard ban by introducing a method for selective fishing and sorting in the trawl based on predefined species and sizes, says Hege Hammersland-White, marketing coordinator at Scantrol Deep Vision.Related articles: