SCIENTIFIC TESTING OF THE OPEN PROTOCOL
| Name | Test aim & setup | PI | Country | Environment | Status | Timeline | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OP test in Belgian North Sea | Aim of this study is to investigate the compatibility among the different manufacturers and assess the impact of the non-compatible equipment on receiver performance in a coastal environment with sandy bottom . OPi, OPs, R64K and 9004 tags will be combined in this setup. Receivers from Innovasea (both MAP 114 and 115), Lotek, Sonotronics and Thelma-Biotel are used | Jan Reubens | Belgium | Open sea | Field test completed, analyses ongoing | January-February 2021 | jan.reubens@vliz.be |
| OP test in Belgian riverine system | Aim of this study is to investigate the compatibility among the different manufacturers and assess the impact of the non-compatible equipment on receiver performance in a riverine environment. OPi, OPs, R64K and 9004 tags will be combined in this setup. Receivers from Innovasea (both MAP 114 and 115), Lotek, Sonotronics and Thelma-Biotel are used. | Pieterjan Verhelst | Belgium | River | Field test ongoing | January-February 2021 | pieterjan.verhelst@ugent.be |
| OP test in Azores Deepsea Lab | Pedro Afonso | Portugal (Azores) | Open sea | Planned | April-June 2021 | pafonsopim@gmail.com | |
| OP test in Danish smolts | The aim is to directly compare performance of small OPi and R64K transmitters from the same manufacturer. | Kim Aarestrup | Denmark | River/fjord | Field test ongoing | March-June 2021 | kaa@aqua.dtu.dk |
| OP test in southern Portugal | Aim of this study is to investigate the compatibility among the different manufacturers and assess the impact of the non-compatible equipment on receiver performance in a coastal lagoon environment and in a coastal sandy area with offshore fish farming cages. OPi, OPs, R64K and 9004 tags will be combined in this setup. Receivers from Innovasea (both MAP 114 and 115), Lotek, Sonotronics and Thelma-Biotel are used. | David Abecasis | Portugal | Coastal area/near aquaculture facilities | Planned | February-April 2021 | dabecassis@ualg.pt |
| OP test in Balearic Islands | The aim of this study is to test the compatibility between receivers and transmitters from different manufacturers (Lotek, Thelma Biotel and Sonotronics) and to compare them in terms of the acoustic range, its temporal variability, and the sensitivity to signal collisions. Tests will be conducted in sandy and rocky coastal areas of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain). | Eneko Aspillaga | Spain | Coastal | Field test ongoing | January-February 2021 | aspillaga@imedea.uib-csic.es |
Photos: Open Protocol testing ongoing in the Begian North Sea (courtesy of Jan Reubens) and a Belgian river (courtesy of Pieterjan Verhelst).
