Frequently Asked Questions

A protocol is a coding scheme that essentially represents the ‘language’ that tags speak, and receivers listen for.

The big deal with compatibility is that in the last 7-10 years, Innovasea moved to encrypt their tags, such that they would only get decoded by their own receivers. This meant that Innovasea equipment would no longer speak the same language as all other manufacturers (affecting BOTH tags and receivers), defying the purpose of acoustic telemetry networks.

Acoustic telemetry networks came about because many researchers have small regional arrays, but aquatic animals can move far beyond those arrays. What if your tagged fish ended up in another researcher’s array? By connecting all these regional arrays together (and building upon them), we create large networks of infrastructure that can help us truly understand aquatic life. Networks only work when all the equipment in the water actually speaks the same language though.

The Open Protocol was designed as a coding system for acoustic telemetry equipment by manufacturers (Innovasea, Lotek, Sonotronics & Thelma-Biotel) - at the request of ETN - in response to Innovasea encrypting their tags and receivers such that only their tags would be detected only by their receivers. ETN disagrees with a single manufacturer having monopoly over acoustic telemetry equipment as it 1) does not meet the needs of the community, 2) prevents fair competition among manufacturers, 3) stifles innovation, and 4) compromises long-term research.

Open Protocol tags and receivers support compatibility and interoperability in acoustic telemetry equipment. OP was made to meet the demands of the scientific community, and to ensure monopoly over acoustic telemetry infrastructure does not occur. All manufacturers can produce OP equipment, provided they have signed an MoU and License Agreement. Remember that OP can be on your receiver while listening for encrypted tags!

The results from field testing have been analysed, and are currently being written up for a peer-reviewed publication. Overall, the outcome suggests that OPi and OPs tags perform very well in rivers, lagoons and open sea. The results also suggest OP tags are more robust against false detections than R64K.

All manufacturers can produce OP tags and receivers, provided they have signed an MoU and License Agreement. Currently, Thelma Biotel, Lotek, and Sonotronics all make OP-enabled equipment. Innovasea has the capability of doing so as well, but charges 300 Euros per receiver for software upgrades. Innovasea does not produce OP tags at present.

No. Receivers with OP will still listen for tags on the R64K codeset, which currently covers most of the tags out there. The only tags it will not pick up are encrypted tags from Innovasea, unless your receiver is from Innovasea and set to detect encrypted tags, R64K tags and OP tags. Note also that ETN does not recommend Innovasea’s OP-only receivers as this will not detect tags from other codesets. ETN’s goal is, and always has been, to ensure, maintain, and promote compatibility and interoperability.

You have two options: 

Option 1) if you have older receivers that previously had MAP114 on them, you can downgrade back to MAP114. This will give you more flexibility for developments to come. We also recommend getting those receivers OP-enabled, for which Innovasea will charge 300 Euros per receiver (with discounts possible). 

Option 2) you can get the free upgrade to Gen2 receivers, as this will allow your receivers to pick up tags on the R64K codeset, and encrypted tags. What ETN recommends is to also ask for your receivers to be OP-enabled. Innovasea will charge 300 Euros per receiver (with discounts possible).

You can find an overview of equipment compatibility in this table.

OP is available to all researchers, globally. Innovasea is the only manufacturer not offering OP on a global scale. You can: 1) buy from a different manufacturer, and/or 2) pressure Innovasea to offer OP on their products, and/or 3) contact ETN and we will advise you.

Have a look at the flowchart below for ETN’s case-specific recommendations. We are always happy to answer questions, so don’t hesitate to contact us for more details.

Compatibility and interoperability concerns everyone, inside and outside of Europe. In part, this is because fair competition among manufacturers keeps prices competitive, and fosters development within the manufacturers. But a big part of this is that aquatic animals don’t have boundaries the same way we do - a bluefin tuna in Europe could migrate to North America, and if our tags and receivers don’t speak the same language, that’s a problem. Similarly, although few in numbers, some animals have been observed to migrate between Australia and South Africa. ETN firmly believes compatibility concerns all individual researchers and their networks.

We recommend a tendering exercise, where compatibility with R64K and OP are requested. We also encourage all researchers, regardless of their location, to ask for compatible equipment, regardless of if a manufacturer supports it or not. The higher the demand for such equipment, the more likely they are to offer it.