The fishery of the Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus is among the most prominent ones in Eu-rope (Atlantic and Mediterranean waters). With signs of overexploitation and stock decline, standardized monitoring of populations over large areas is a priority for the authorities. How-ever, traditional assessment methods based on fishing (trawl sampling) are expensive, highly invasive for the environment and influenced by the species’ burrowing (buried individuals are not sampled). On the other hand, alternative video-based methods like UnderWater TeleVision surveys with towed cameras count burrow entrances and rely on the rough assumption that 1 entrance equals 1 individual and vice versa. Advances in monitoring technologies raise the need to transform vast amounts of multiparametric (environmental, animal counts and sizes, etc.) data to coherent ecological indicators that can be translated directly into meaningful knowledge on the status of stocks and their associated habitats. The MSCA project 101104596 “CINNEPHILIA – Coordinated Intelligent Networks for NEPHrops norvegicus In-situ Long-term Imaging-based Assessment”, starting in September 2024, aims to semi-automate a data-processing pipeline and establish relevant ecological indicators to monitor N. norvegicus populations in test sites and Ma-rine Protected Areas of the Catalan coast, pushing stock estimation accuracy beyond the current state of the art. Footage and oceanographic data from planned research cruises and lander-sta-tion deployments will be analyzed and compared with available data from local fisheries, to calculate densities per Km2 and a more precise ratio of individuals to burrow entrances. The output (a standardized, highly automated protocol) is intended to be directly transferable to in-ternational initiatives such as the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES, re-sponsible for Nephrops monitoring in the Atlantic) through the participation in the ICES Working Group on Nephrops Surveys (WGNEPS). Finally, the aims align to the Horizon Europe mission on “Healthy Oceans, Seas, Coastal and Inland Waters”

With the institutional support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S)

Peer reviewed

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