FAO.org

In 2020, the EAF-Nansen Programme's research surveys with the R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen are dedicated to monitoring the marine resources and ecosystems off Western and Southern Africa. Key objectives include:

• Mapping vulnerable marine habitats and biodiversity of selected continental shelves, as well as the deep sea, including areas beyond national jurisdiction;
• Providing knowledge on shared resources, as a basis for collaborative fisheries management across countries’ borders;
• Assessing the marine environmental implications of oil and gas activities.

In addition to the surveys' core staff, represented by scientists from the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research (IMR), survey participants include researchers from countries bordering the region being surveyed, as a way of strengthening collaborative spirit across borders.

All the Nansen surveys are carefully planned, in a joint collaboration with the partnering research institutions and regional organizations. The main aim is to support monitoring processes and fisheries management in the studied countries, as well as to collect data and information that address priorities set out in the different themes analysed under the Programme’s Science Plan. These include aspects of biology of exploited and not yet exploited fishery resources, impacts of pollution on resources and the marine environment, and climate change. It is expected that the detailed mapping, identification and documentation of marine resources, habitats, environment and pollution will enhance the knowledge base for decision making at both regional and national levels, and that fisheries management measures will be implemented in line with the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries (EAF). Scientific information is key to sustainability, as is a strong link between science and management in order to attain this goal, and to reach the Programme’s end goals of poverty eradication and improving food security.

To initiate the 2020 survey programme, the R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen set sail in February from Las Palmas, Spain, towards Northwest Africa, with the aim to collect samples, visual data, and map seabed habitats in support of improved fisheries management in an ecosystem context. A group of 25 scientists and technicians from Mauritania, Morocco, Spain and Norway participated in the first leg of the survey. In the first area mapped in northern Mauritania, and with the use of multibeam echosounder, several structures indicating the presence of cold-water coral reefs (Lophelia pertusa) were recorded throughout the area mapping at night. Most of them were spotted through the subsequent video-dives, using a Video-Assisted Multi Sampler (VAMS). During the first video dive, the scientists found living Lophelia reefs at depths of 526 to 590 meters, at the edge of a canyon.

Among the colourful coral structures, various crustaceans and fish species were documented, and at depths of 1200 metres, coral samples were collected for genetic analysis. These will later be compared with Lophelia samples from other parts of the world, as part of a study on the historical dispersal pattern of this coral. In additional to that, the team came across species that are known to contribute to high biodiversity of Lophelia reefs in other areas of the world such as the bivalve (Acesta excavate), the squat lobster (Munidopsis sericornis), and the relatively large bristle worm (Eunice norvegica) that relies on food supply from many organisms and species that inhabit the coral reefs. The next area mapped documented a large reef at depths from 538 to 573 meters, while the video inspection showed that the reef only had a few living Lophelia colonies. At the edge of this reef, a large jellynose fish (Guentherus altivela; see image below), featured on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Endangered Species, was spotted. Following the coral mapping off the coast of Mauritania, the survey continued northwards and ended just south of Tangier, near the Strait of Gibraltar. The first leg of the 2020 Survey Plan concluded on 22 February in Casablanca.

The second leg of the 2020 survey with the R/V Dr Fridtjof Nansen was to study the transboundary demersal resources off Northwest Africa, with the participation of scientists from Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia and Spain, in addition to the Norwegian scientific core team and the crew. The survey was expected to conclude in Las Palmas at the end of March. However, due to the corona virus outbreak and the uncertain situation worldwide, the decision was taken to terminate the survey earlier and return the vessel to its home port in Bergen, Norway. While we hope to be able to restart the survey programme as soon as possible, we cannot announce at this stage when this will happen.