RESPIRE monitoring on a Biohut in Port-Vendres
(©Amélie Fontcuberta)
RESPIRE: A monitoring network of fish recruitment on the French Mediterranean coastThe theme of coastal nurseries, recent and growing, requires a special effort in data acquisition and knowledge improvement. In this context, the RESPIRE network, financed by the Water Agency and implemented by the company Ecocean, is meant to follow over several years the spatiotemporal evolution of larval settlement in littoral zone.
Example of information sheet available on medtrix.fr
In 2015, the observation units (Biohut) were installed in the French Mediterranean ports partners of the project and a method of standardized observation, proposed by a scientific committee composed of researchers, institutions and post-larvae experts, was implemented on these artificial habitats for the protection of young fish. 23 ports, spread between Port Vendres and Monaco, but also in Corsica, are being monitored 3 times a year (low frequency monitoring), and up to 24 times a year for 7 of them (high frequency monitoring).
Driven by a regional initiative, assisted by leading scientists from Ifremer and CNRS, and part of the PAMM monitoring program of the Western Mediterranean, the network aims to provide answers on the characterization of post-larval populations and juvenile fish recruitment to the coast, their spatial variation in time and foresight on their evolution.
The main results are posted on a platform open to the general public: www.medtrix.fr. Developed in collaboration with the Water Angency and the Andromède Innovation company, it displays characteristics of monitored areas, abundance and diversity data. The results are mapped on the Mediterranean coast, using pictograms and color code.
