Early Career Scientist Conference in Canada and a tour of the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University

The early career scientist conference is hosted by ICES and PICES (The North Pacific Marine Science Organization) and brings together young marine scientists giving them an opportunity to network and present their work. 

I am a PhD student in CRIMAC and in my PhD project I apply camera technology to improve the interpretation of acoustic data.

I gave a presentation with the title  “Combining behavioral observations with machine learning results to improve count estimates of small pelagic and mesopelagic fish in a video trawl”.

In the presentation I highlighted the advantages of using cameras in scientific trawls, discussed the importance of obtaining accurate estimates of number of fish by species that enter the trawl, and presented some preliminary results from the first manuscript I am working on.

Since the conference was held in St. John’s Newfoundland (Canada), I also had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Paul Winger who is a member of CRIMAC’s international scientific advisory committee. 

Dr. Winger was kind enough to give me a tour of the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University, the highlight being the world’s largest flume tank!

Overall, the  week-long stay in St. John’s gave me a valuable opportunity to present the Deep Vision camera system, CRIMAC and my PhD work as well as meet other young scientist in the same field of research. 

I received positive feedback on my presentation. People were interested in the Deep vision in-trawl camera system, fish behavior in the trawl and the different ways in-trawl camera technology can be applied to scientific surveys.