Shark captures in the port of Vigo. (Photo: Jose Antonio Gil Martinez CC BY 2.0)
Software designed to identify sharks and rays
(SPAIN, 9/18/2014)
Scientists from the Department of Ecology and Animal Biology of the University of Vigo have created software that identifies 16 types of sharks and manta rays through their fins and detects illegally caught species.
This initiative was designed for United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in collaboration with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES).
Castor Guisande, the research director, explained ISharkFin software is a tool that makes it possible to know the different species of sharks caught by fishing fleets around the world and can help stop the decline of some populations and control their catches.
In Spain, for example, it is required to land whole sharks at ports to be absolutely certain about what species are caught while in other nations the cut up specimens are unloaded.
Therefore, FAO commissioned the research team from Vigo to develop a programme to identify species through the fins.
While the testing period is finishing, the distribution of the software in open version is to be started among port inspectors, customs officers, unions and traders.
Proponents of the initiative intend to receive the FAO official certification by July 2015 for the ISharkFin software to become a recommended tool, "but not compulsory worldwide," added the researcher, according to the newspaper Faro de Vigo.
This new system identifies the fins through their morphology, that is to say, the user takes a picture of the fin and selects some features to be able to automatically know what species it belongs to.
The estimated process time is less than five minutes, EFE agency reported.
By Analia Murias
editorial@seafood.media
www.seafood.media
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Campus Universitario Lagoas-Marcosende
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Vigo
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Pontevedra, Galicia (36310)
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Spain
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+34 986 812 000
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informacion@uvigo.es
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