Project
Fully Documented Fisheries (FDF)
The aim of the Fully Documented Fisheries (FDF) project is to develop an autonomous video-based monitoring system to record catch, i.e. automated catch registration without interference of fishers (logbooks) or on-board observers.
The Electronic Monitoring (EM) systems used consist of a control box (onboard computer), GPS, sensors and cameras. Different sensors, e.g. movement sensors on the net drums and sorting belt, detect fishing activity on board and trigger the video system to start (and stop) recording. Subsequently, data are transferred from the fishing vessel to a central data base, through a wireless connection.
To automate the analysis of video data generated by EM, Wageningen University & Research develops computer vison methods to automatically detect and classify the fish on the conveyor belts to record the count and size distribution per species. The developed technology creates the opportunity of automatic catch registration on board of the fishing vessels, making full documentation of fisheries possible.
Autonomous recordings of catches in combination with information about fishing activity, i.e. place, time, haul duration, enhances innovation in fisheries science and will support fishers and fishery managers in their mission for a sustainable use of resources.
This project is co-financed with support from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).
