Surface monitoring of marine resources by LIDAR (SUMMAREL)

Mackerel is presently one of the economically most important stocks in the northeast Atlantic. Further, the stock has a substantial but scientifically unclear role in the dynamics of Norwegian Sea ecosystem. High market prices mean that even small changes in catch size, the Norwegian share is 31% of the global market, can have great economic impact. For Norway it is therefore important both to establish a good scientific basis for stock assessment and to measure the distribution of mackerel in the Norwegi an economic zone. Mackerel do not have a swimbladder and therefore acoustic abundance estimation is problematic. In recent years new techniques have been developed, but efficient monitoring is only possible at deeper water (<50M). During summer, when mackerel is distribut ed in the northern Norwegian Sea, mackerel is to a great extent concentrated in the surface layers (<40m), and application of acoustic methods is therefore difficult. In this project we want to explore the potential of using airborne LIDAR for detecting and assessing mackerel densities and distribution. Experiments for calibrating the performance of the instrumentation will be carried out with the goal of obtaining a m easure of true density. This will make it possible to estimate abundance. The data will be validated through biological sampling.