This project aims at advancing our understanding of mesopelagic fish communities in the North East Atlantic Ocean. The mesopelagic zone, or twilight zone, extends from 200 m to 1000 m of depth and it is a poorly understood environment. Such knowledge gap is significant because such environment plays a pivotal role in the ocean’s carbon cycling, offers potential for biodiscovery in the nutraceutical industry, and its massive biomass is attractive to the fishing industry.
This project objectives are to integrate environmental DNA (eDNA) into the assessment and characterisation of mesopelagic fish communities, which is currently conducted using acoustic and direct catches methods.
The project is a direct collaboration with the Marine Institute (SERV-23-FEAS-086).
