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15 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, supplementary material https://doi.org/10.1126/scirobotics.abc3701.-- This manuscript has been accepted for publication in Science Robotics. This version has not undergone final editing. Please refer to the complete version of record at https://robotics.sciencemag.org/content/5/48/eabc3701. The manuscript may not be reproduced or used in any manner that does not fall within the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act without the prior, written permission of AAAS, Knowing the displacement capacity and mobility patterns of industrially exploited (i.e., fished) marine resources is key to establishing effective conservation management strategies in human-impacted marine ecosystems. Acquiring accurate behavioral information of deep-sea fished ecosystems is necessary to establish the sizes of marine protected areas within the framework of large international societal programs (e.g., European Community H2020, as part of the Blue Growth economic strategy). However, such information is currently scarce, and high-frequency and prolonged data collection is rarely available. Here, we report the implementation of autonomous underwater vehicles and remotely operated vehicles as an aid for acoustic long-baseline localization systems for autonomous tracking of Norway lobster (Nephrops norvegicus), one of the key living resources exploited in European waters. In combination with seafloor moored acoustic receivers, we detected and tracked the movements of 33 tagged lobsters at 400-m depth for more than 3 months. We also identified the best procedures to localize both the acoustic receivers and the tagged lobsters, based on algorithms designed for off-the-shelf acoustic tags identification. Autonomous mobile platforms that deliver data on animal behavior beyond traditional fixed platform capabilities represent an advance for prolonged, in situ monitoring of deep-sea benthic animal behavior at meter spatial scales, This work received financial support from different research projects of the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (RESNEP: CTM2017-82991-C2-1-R; RESBIO: TEC2017-87861-R; and SASES: RTI2018-095112-B-I00), of the Generalitat de Catalunya “Sistemas de Adquisición Remota de datos y Tratamiento de la Información en el Medio Marino (SARTI-MAR)” 2017 SGR 371, and NSF-IDBR (#145501 to K.K.). J.N. was funded by the Spanish National Program Ramón y Cajal (RYC-2015-17809). This project has also received support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie–Individual Fellowship grant agreement AIforUTracking No. 893089, With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

15 pages, 14 figures, 5 tables, The study of the effects of climate change on the marine environment requires the existence of sufficiently long time series of key parameters. The study of these series allows both to characterize the range of variability in each particular region and to detect trends or changes that could be attributed to anthropogenic causes. For this reason, networks of permanent cabled observation systems are being deployed in the ocean. This paper presents a balance of a decade of activity at the OBSEA cabled observatory, as an example of ocean monitoring success and drawbacks. It is not the objective of this article to analyze the scientific and technical aspects already presented by the authors in different publications (Table 4). We will evaluate the overall experience by retracing the different steps of infrastructure deployment and maintenance, focusing on routines for in situ control, damages experienced, breakdowns and administrative constraints by local administrations. We will conclude by providing a set of guidelines to improve cabled observatories scientific outreach, societal projection, and economic efficiency. As a result of this work, a 10-years dataset has been published in Pangaea that is available for the community, This work was supported in part by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science (MEC) with the project Redes de sensores submarinosautónomos y cableados aplicados a la monitorización remota de indicadores biológicos under Grant TEC2017-87861-R, and part by Generalitat de Catalunya with the Project Sistemas de Adquisición Remota de datos y Tratamiento de la Información en el Medio Marino (SARTI-MAR) under Grant 2017 SGR 371, With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI)

The Working Group on Nephrops Surveys (WGNEPS) is the international coordination group for Nephrops underwater television and trawl surveys within ICES. This report summarizes the national contributions on the results of the surveys conducted in 2019 together with time series covering all survey years, problems encountered, data quality checks and technological improvements as well as the planned for survey activities for 2020. The Working Group on Nephrops Surveys (WGNEPS) is the international coordination group for Nephrops underwater television and trawl surveys within ICES. This report summarizes the national contributions on the results of the surveys conducted in 2019 together with time series covering all survey years, problems encountered, data quality checks and technological improve- ments as well as the planned for survey activities for 2020. In total, 19 surveys covering 25 func- tional units (FU’s) in the ICES area and 1 geographical subarea (GSA) in the Adriatic Sea were discussed and further improvements in respect to survey design and data analysis, standardiza- tion and the use of most recent technology were reviewed. A new survey summary template by FU/GSA has been developed and adopted for future re- ports, which shall allow the data end users to extract the most relevant information on the survey results in a more easy way. Necessary actions and reviewer comments were addressed on the draft version of the Series of ICES Survey Protocols (SISP). Similarly, the working group reviewed the specifications for a Nephrops underwater TV database to be established at the ICES data centre and agreed on fur- ther action on this issue. First results from field studies on behaviour aspects of burrow emergence using bottom cages monitored by an automated camera system and on short-range migration using acoustic tracking are now available. Comparison of standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) indicates the change to HD system mounted with a different camera angle may affect the detection rate and may thus require a revision of bias correction factors. New image reviewing software allows an easier way of an- notation of burrows than previous mosaicking methods, which has further advantages for inter- preting the results from different counters and for providing quality assured material for deep learning methods. The WG members agreed to collect information on burrow diameter size us- ing HD images and burrow annotation or mosaicking software because a change in the burrow size distribution may indicate recruitment events and the size of the burrow has an effect on bias correction factors in general. Automatic burrow detection based on deep learning methods applied to a test data set with an- notated burrow counts from a HD camera system showed promising results. The WG members were encouraged to provide more material with annotated burrow counts for further develop- ment of machine learning tools.

The Working Group on Nephrops Surveys (WGNEPS) is the international coordination group for Nephrops underwater television and trawl surveys within ICES. This report summarizes the national contributions on the results of the surveys conducted in 2019 together with time series covering all survey years, problems encountered, data quality checks and technological improvements as well as the planned for survey activities for 2020. The Working Group on Nephrops Surveys (WGNEPS) is the international coordination group for Nephrops underwater television and trawl surveys within ICES. This report summarizes the national contributions on the results of the surveys conducted in 2019 together with time series covering all survey years, problems encountered, data quality checks and technological improve- ments as well as the planned for survey activities for 2020. In total, 19 surveys covering 25 func- tional units (FU’s) in the ICES area and 1 geographical subarea (GSA) in the Adriatic Sea were discussed and further improvements in respect to survey design and data analysis, standardiza- tion and the use of most recent technology were reviewed. A new survey summary template by FU/GSA has been developed and adopted for future re- ports, which shall allow the data end users to extract the most relevant information on the survey results in a more easy way. Necessary actions and reviewer comments were addressed on the draft version of the Series of ICES Survey Protocols (SISP). Similarly, the working group reviewed the specifications for a Nephrops underwater TV database to be established at the ICES data centre and agreed on fur- ther action on this issue. First results from field studies on behaviour aspects of burrow emergence using bottom cages monitored by an automated camera system and on short-range migration using acoustic tracking are now available. Comparison of standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) indicates the change to HD system mounted with a different camera angle may affect the detection rate and may thus require a revision of bias correction factors. New image reviewing software allows an easier way of an- notation of burrows than previous mosaicking methods, which has further advantages for inter- preting the results from different counters and for providing quality assured material for deep learning methods. The WG members agreed to collect information on burrow diameter size us- ing HD images and burrow annotation or mosaicking software because a change in the burrow size distribution may indicate recruitment events and the size of the burrow has an effect on bias correction factors in general. Automatic burrow detection based on deep learning methods applied to a test data set with an- notated burrow counts from a HD camera system showed promising results. The WG members were encouraged to provide more material with annotated burrow counts for further develop- ment of machine learning tools.

Four operational factors, together with high development cost, currently limit the use of ocean observatories in ecological and fisheries applications: 1) limited spatial coverage; 2) limited integration of multiple types of technologies; 3) limitations in the experimental design for in situ studies; and 4) potential unpredicted bias in monitoring outcomes due to the infrastructure’s presence and functioning footprint. To address these limitations, we propose a novel concept of a standardized “ecosystem observatory module” structure composed of a central node and three tethered satellite pods together with permanent mobile platforms. The module would be designed with a rigid spatial configuration to optimize overlap among multiple observation technologies each providing 360° coverage around the module, including permanent stereo-video cameras, acoustic imaging sonar cameras, horizontal multi-beam echosounders and a passive acoustic array. The incorporation of multiple integrated observation technologies would enable unprecedented quantification of macrofaunal composition, abundance and density surrounding the module, as well as the ability to track the movements of individual fishes and macroinvertebrates. Such a standardized modular design would allow for the hierarchical spatial connection of observatory modules into local module clusters and larger geographic module networks, providing synoptic data within and across linked ecosystems suitable for fisheries and ecosystem level monitoring on multiple scales.

El grupo de investigación SARTI de la UPC opera desde el 2009 el observatorio submarino cableado Obsea que ofrece la posibilidad de realizar actividades de investigación y desarrollo de equipos y sensores submarinos. Por otro lado, el grupo viene trabajando desde hace años en el desarrollo de un vehículo submarino (AUV) con propósitos académicos que permite usarse como plataforma de pruebas para el avance en la investigación sobre estrategias de control, navegación, posicionamiento, etc… Este artículo tiene como objetivo hacer una breve introducción a los proyectos y actividades de investigación relacionados con el Obsea y el Guanay2, en los que actualmente el grupo SARTI está trabajando.

The response to ship induced motions has been predicted for four towed underwater vehicles. The purpose of the study is to determine the suitability of these vehicles for their use as oceanic microstructure sensor carrying platforms. All have been used in the past for oceanic studies, and these four vehicles show the most promise for microstructure work. Transfer functions which describe the response of a towed vehicle have been determined, for longitudinal motions. Also, the motion spectra of the vehicles have been predicted for the longitudinal mode as a result of being towed by a typical research vessel in a sea state three. M.S.