Efficient, low-cost monitoring of calanus

Being the dominant zooplankton group in the North Atlantic, herbivore copepods play an essential role in the food web energy transfer. As an important food item for commercially exploitable fish stocks, it is vital to fill the knowledge gaps on the mechan isms governing the variability in biomass observed among copepods in the Northern Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea. Identifying the important mechanisms is a prerequisite for future stock assessment and management of zooplankton. This proposal will estab lish a cost-efficient approach able to provide essential data on the state of the copepod spawning population by combining advanced, but well documented, technology for measurements and the knowledge of experts from technical and biological disciplines. T he project will deliver detailed measurements of the distribution and physical environment of different groups of hibernating copepods in the North Norwegian Sea. Due to the effectiveness, deep water access and resolution of the bio-physical data set prov ided by this approach, the proposed research project must be regarded as pioneer work that will add major progress within this field of science.