Our mission is to track aquatic animals across Europe to better understand, protect and manage them.

Telemetry is a commonly applied method to investigate the ecology and movement behaviour of aquatic species in relation to their environment. It provides a scientific basis for management and conservation and has significantly improved our understanding of ecosystem functioning and dynamics. More specifically, telemetry provides valuable data that can be used in many policies and directives. As a result, large scale nationally and regionally managed initiatives were implemented around the globe in recent years. Although there is a large and growing number of researchers in Europe using biotelemetry to study aquatic animals and answer management-related questions, there is a stringent lack of in-field telemetry collaborations in Europe. This situation represents a substantial loss of opportunities for scientific excellence, funding opportunities and so much more. We want to close this gap and transition from a loosely-coordinated set of existing regional telemetry initiatives to a sustainable, efficient, and integrated pan-European biotelemetry network embedded in the international context of already existing initiatives. We are achieving this through 1) meetings & collaborations, 2) the maintenance & development of a centralised database, 3) promote and support technological advancements, 4) workshops & training, 5) coming together to apply for funding, 6) communication & dissemination, and 7) feeding our data & findings into policy and management frameworks. Briefly, our objectives are to:

 

  1. Develop ways and opportunities for the telemetry community within Europe and beyond to come together, collaborate, develop ideas and guide the future of aquatic tracking;
  2. Implement, maintain and expand a centralised European database, with the necessary requirements and policy mapped to the data standards of existing international biotelemetry data systems;
  3. Improve the usefulness and inter-applicability of currently available technology and foster technological advancements;
  4. Provide continuous training opportunities;
  5. Support and guide consortiums to apply for funding to expand and maintain tracking infrastructure;
  6. Communicate and disseminate research projects, findings, and their implications to the scientific community, practitioners and the wider public;
  7. Work towards the implementation of telemetry as a tool within management frameworks at local, national and international scales to impact policy.

 

dolphinfish