The current prototype developed for the Pertuis zone in Charente Maritime deals with two cases:

• an information base related to maritime activities (professional and recreational fisheries) derived from a monograph published by the Direction Départementale des Affaires Maritimes of Charente Maritime.
• an information base for shellfish farming salubrity zones.

An extension to protection zones (Znieff, ZPS, ZICO, Natura 2000, etc.) is underway on the same site, using the same scales.

For more information, contact Brigitte.Guillaumont@ifremer.fr

FishView : evaluation of fisheries resources on board the oceanographic vessel "Thalassa"

Context

The division of Living Resources (DRV) is involved in all scientific studies covering sea fisheries activities.
Research laboratories are located along the French coast and overseas. Their objective is to collect commercial catch data (landings, size, age, biological data, etc.) in order to produce the best expertise on stocks and advice for management considerations.

Two kinds of method are generally used for exploited stock assessment :

1. analytical methods from commercial catches,
2. direct biomass assessments through scientific surveys.

This second type of assessment may be provided by different methods depending on species behaviour, distribution and migrations : bottom trawl surveys, egg counts or acoustic surveys.
For more information see [Diner N.,Marchand P.],  [Mac Lennan D.N, E.J.Simmonds].

In 1996, IFREMER launched a new fisheries research vessel :  Thalassa. It mainly cruises the Atlantic ocean and the Mediterranean sea. Several new technologies have been chosen to ensure optimal acoustic performances for the ship.

FishView project description    

Ifremer entirely redesigned the real time data processing software as well as the post processing components aboard Thalassa. The FishView project was a part of this effort, and started in 1996 with the following objectives :

• automatic importing and display of data acquired during an assessment survey,
• processing the data and producing synthesis results and maps,
• reliance on an "off the shelf" product : ArcView GIS from Esri,
• ease of operation, directly on board or in the laboratory.

For bottom trawl surveys (North Sea, English Channel, Mediterranean sea, etc.) the area is divided into statistical rectangles in which one or several systematic hauls are carried out. The biomass calculations are performed taking into account the specific catches of each haul.

During acoustic surveys, fish is quantified along pre-defined transects by measuring the number and intensity of fish echoes, this data is crossed with that from experimental trawls. The total backscattered energy is converted into fish biomass according to specific capacity of reflection. It is therefore necessary to identify echoes by pelagic hauls to estimate the relative proportion of different species. Fishing operations are generally performed each time typical echo-traces are observed [Massé  J., Retière N.].

Because of the difficulty in splitting up the total acoustic energy by species, the classification of fish schools or species assemblages has always been a predominant concern.  Since classification can't be systematically reliable,  trawl samples are still used for mixed populations.

Data

During the survey the following data is acquired on board and processed by FishView :

Fishing data

The catch is collected in a trunk and processed in an automated fish room. The fish is weighed and all or part of it is sorted by species and measured. FishView imports the following information from the ship sensors :

• per trawl : route and associated info (start time, end time, trawl 3D geometry...),
• per species : size histogram, average size and weight, number of fish caught,

Planktonic nets are also used to evaluate eggs and larvae as well as nutrient abundance in the areas studied.

Acoustic data

Acoustic data is acquired using echo-sounders and processed with an Ifremer specialized software called Movies+. Echoes corresponding to schools are automatically selected and the energies and characteristics of aggregations (level and geometry) are integrated, every elementary sampling unit (ESDU : generally one mile). FishView imports the following information from Movies+ files : ESDU position and attributes per water slice, ESDU position and total schools energy, position and attributes of each individual school.

figure 7: Movies+ screen

Hydrographical measurements :

During the cruise, salinity and temperature measurements and samples are taken at different locations. Usually the water column is sampled every metre. Thalassa also operates a thermo-salinometer which measures the surface temperature and salinity, every 10 seconds.

figure 8 :  temperature and salinity vertical profiles

Mission description data :

An electronic scientific logbook called CASINO is used to store all the cruise information. It runs the following functionnalities:

• automatic acquisition of  relevant parameters for the cruise,
• automatic acquisition of events sent by the bridge electronic logbook,
• acquisition of the events entered by scientific operators,
• visualization in real time of the acquired data,
• recording of events on magnetic disk (UNIX® file),
• post-processing editing to delete, modify or add records,
• translation into Microsoft EXCEL® format of all or part of the scientific logbook.

On Thalassa, more than 60 parameters can be recorded : ship position and bearing, meteorology, physical parameters, trawl geometry, winches... This data can be loaded as a point theme in FishView and these attributes used to map specific events or parameter evolution.

FishView main fonctions

FishView is implemented as two ArcView GIS Extensions : FishView and FishView Spatial which requires Spatial Analyst and can be used to performed data interpolation. These extensions add new menus and buttons to the ArcView interface.

FishView fonctions are grouped into four families :

• data importing
• display
• processing
• cartographic outputs

Data importing :

A single button activates automatic importing of the new data acquired by the cruise. This function provides easy updating of synthesis maps as the cruise progresses. Dtat is converted into tables and geographic coverages in ArcView Shapefile format.

Data display :

FishView can display cruise data in interactive views and automatically handles the creation of links and joints between tables when necessary.

Data processing :

Many "push-button" processing fonctions have been adapted to scientists' needs and integrated  into FishView :

Cartographic outputs :

FishView relies on standard ArcView functions to produce printed maps including legends, scales and comments.

Examples of results

Preliminary versions of FishView were used in May 1997 during the Pegase 97 survey in the Bay of Biscay, and in February 1998 during the IBTS 98 cruise in the North Sea.
The final version of FishView will be used during the Pegase 98 survey in the Bay of Biscay from May 20th to June 9th 1998.

PEGASE 97

The PEGASE survey used acoustic methods to analyse the horizontal and vertical distribution of adult pelagic fish in order to understand how anchovies share space with other pelagic species by describing aggregation strategies. Anchovy adults and larvae were collected in order to compare their physiological state with the environmental conditions. The objective was to analyse factors which could be responsible for recruitment variability.

For more information about PEGASE 97, contact the survey supervisor Jacques.Masse@ifremer.fr
and read [Massé J.]

IBTS 98

This cruise was part of the International Bottom Trawl Survey (IBTS) program whose objectives are :

• to determine distribution and abondance of pre-recruits of the main commercial species with a view of deriving recruitement indices,
• to monitor changes in stocks of commercial fish species independentely of commercial fisheries data,
• to monitor stock changes for species which are currently not of commercial interest

The North Sea has been divided into rectangles of 30 minutes of latitude and one degree of longitude. The haul duration is constant (30 minutes), the gear is standardized and each square is sampled by two or three participating countries.

For more information about IBTS98, contact the survey supervisor Yves.Verin@ifremer.fr

Technical and methodological support to GIS projects

Context

The GIS projects have highlighted the need for both methodological and technical support for teams. This was originally achieved by combining thematic specialists and GIS technical staff on the same teams.

Methods and tools

Since late 1997, based on the experience acquired in these projects, specialized Ifremer teams from the "Operational Application Service" of the Coastal Environment Directorate (see http://www.ifremer.fr/delao) and the Engineering, Technology and Information Directorate (DITI) can now provide methodological, thematic and technical support to current and future projects :

• GIS project management, essentially in the coastal centres,
• Expertise on data sources (quality, digitization, projections, metadata),
• Organising training sessions

An Intranet WWW site dedicated to GIS has been recently created. It contains information and links for :

• current GIS projects and contacts,
• data available for downloading (see coastal GIS data library)
• information on GIS base installed on PCs and workstations, prices and internal support mailing lists,
• ArcView extensions available from Esri, third parties (XTools,...) or Ifremer. Prototypes developed during the Sillage project have now become operational extensions :   hydrodynamic model interface, on board GPS acquisition, custom WWW ArcView map server, datum and projection converter.

On-going research

Methodology research has been mostly maintained on the original pilot site of Marennes-Oléron where environmental quality issues are being explored. This includes various data information layers such as :

• water, sediment and living matter quality (chemical, microbiological) gathered by Ifremer and other institute monitoring networks,
• inventory of contamination sources (urban, agriculture, etc.) and pollutant fluxes reaching the coast,
• characterisation of vulnerable coastal areas (aquaculture, tourism, recreative fishing, critical habitats, natural reserves...)

Other GIS projects

Context

Over the past three years, GIS projects have been developing rapidly. The following projects are a selection of the latest GIS-related activities.

FIGIS - FAIR european project This project is essentially aimed at developing the space and time analysis of resources exploited by Mediterranean fisheries. It focuses on two approaches which give priority to the spatial component: interactions between resources and environmental factors and interactions between fishing fleet dynamics and the policy system. This project fits in with actions which will contribute to better understanding of a system involving natural resources and related management measures, especially within the framework of sustainable exploitation. Its realisation on a European scale means firstly, standardisation of basic knowledge available, co-ordination between the various computer applications and setting up communication interfacing. This kind of research particularly suits the Mediterranean, an area where a common fisheries policy is still being defined, all the questions being magnified by the presence of four EU nations amongst the Mediterranean sea coastal countries. Contact :  Gildas.le.Corre@ifremer.fr

Partners of the FIGIS project SPAIN Universidad de Alicante Instituto Espagnol de Oceanografia Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas Centre Internacional d'Investigacio dels Recursos Costaners FRANCE Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer ITALY Istituto Centrale per la Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica applicata al Mare Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Universita di Genova Universita di Bari Istituto di Tecnologie della Pesca e del Pescato del CNR CNUCE, Pise GREECE Institute of Marine Biology of Crete National Centre for Marine Research

CONCLUSION

This paper covered a brief presentation of Ifremer's GIS activity which is growing steadily. Support teams, training sessions on ArcView, mapping and methodology will facilitate GIS development at Ifremer.

However, the number of projects should not mask the obstacles ahead : GIS projects are still viewed as being too complex. They do not require just data, computers and tools, but also skilled personnel, organizing, methods and above all : Time.

REFERENCES

[Durand H., Guillaumont B., Loarer R., Loubersac L., Prou J., Heral M], 1994 " An example of GIS potentiality for coastal zone management : pre-selection of submerged oyster culture areas near Marennes Oléron (France)". EARSEL Workshop on Remote Sensing and GIS for Coastal Zone Management. Delft, The Netherlands, 24 - 26 oct. 1994, 10 p.

[Mac Lennan D.N, E.J.Simmonds], 1992. Fisheries acoustics. Chapman and Hall, London, 325 p.

[Populus J., Loubersac L., Prou J., Kerdreux M., Lemoine O.], 1997. Geomatics for the management of oyster culture leases and production. CoastGIS'97, Second International Symposium on GIS and Computer Mapping for Coastal Zone Management, Edited D. Green, G. Massie, University of Aberdeen, Aug. 29-31, 1997.

RELATED LINKS

Authors:

Christophe Durand, (Christophe.Durand@ifremer.fr), GIS engineer, Engineering, Technology and Information Directorate
Direction de l'ingénierie, de la Technologie et de l'Informatique
Service Développement de Systèmes Informatiques
29280 PLOUZANE, France
Tel :  (33 2) 98 22 47 00
Fax : (33 2) 98 22 45 46
WWW : http://www.ifremer.fr/ditidsiw3

Lionel Loubersac, ( Lionel.Loubersac@ifremer.fr), GIS project manager, Coastal Environment Directorate
Direction de l'Environnement Littoral
Service Applications Opérationnelles
29280 PLOUZANE, France
Tel :  (33 2) 98 22 44 95
Fax : (33 2) 98 22 45 46
WWW : http://www.ifremer.fr/delao

Jacques Massé, (Jacques.Masse@ifremer.fr), Fisheries biologist,  Living Ressources Directorate
Direction des Ressources Vivantes
Laboratoire d'Ecologie Halieutique
BP 21105
44311 NANTES Cedex 03
Tel :  (33 2) 40 37 41 69
Fax : (33 2) 40 37 40 75

ANNEXES