Pocoroch: long term monitoring and research network on NE Atlantic reef fish
Channel: Pocoroch PatriNat
Date: 2023-03-02

In France, the joint Research and Expertise Center ‘PatriNat’ has developed and coordinated ‘Pocoroch’. Based on fish underwater visual census by scuba diving, carried out by scientists, managers and citizens, Pocoroch is a long term monitoring and research national network on demersal fish assemblages associated with coastal 3D structured benthic habitats (rocky reefs, kelp forests, seagrass meadows, artificial reefs, offshore wind farms, etc), in the context of MSFD, OSPAR, MPAs and Offshore Wind Farms.

In addition to Pocoroch, to achieve a more complete picture of the responses of fish assemblages to natural and anthropogenic stressors, PatriNat works on combining multiple complementary observational research methods: fish Underwater Visual Census (UVC) protocols (for scientists and citizens), sea floor SfM photogrammetry, Baited Remote Underwater Stereo Video, multi-beam and split-beam echosounders, and environmental DNA metabarcoding.