Fewer animals needed in fisheries research thanks to video and crowdsourcing
Scope of the method
- Animal health
- Education and training
- Other
Description
- fish
- reflex
- video
- training
- fisheries
- survival
- reflex
Reflex tests on fish which are used to determine the stress state and survival rate after discards must be correctly conducted and interpreted, and therefore require training. Thanks to ILVO research on the use of video and crowdsourcing (product improvement based on the knowledge and skills of users), fewer laboratory animals will be needed in the near future.
- Published in peer reviewed journal
Pros, cons & Future potential
Reliability and repeatability are essential in the observations we make on the vitality of live caught fish. A series of video clips allows us to train students, veterinarians and fisheries researchers, but we can also compare a series of interpretations of the same clips by different people - crowdsourcing. Interpretation of the same clips can also be repeated by the same people (duplication). In this way we were able to demonstrate that our measurement method is reliable and that even people without prior knowledge can make good observations with this training.
- There are two major bottlenecks here:
- - Observations must be unbiased and repeatable. For example, an observer should not be influenced by foreknowledge (e.g. "That sole has been floundering on dry land for 5 minutes so its reflexes won’t be up to speed anymore").
- - New observers require training, either with newly caught fish, or with fish kept in the laboratory for that purpose.
Organisations
Instituut voor Landbouw-, Visserij- en Voedingsonderzoek (ILVO)Animal Research
Belgium
Flemish Region
NOAA
Alaska Fisheries Science Center
Belgium
