Latest news with #Skatespotter
The Herald Scotland
5 days ago
- Science
- The Herald Scotland
App to build better picture of endangered skates in Scotland
With the new, free SkateSpotter app now available on the Play store and the App store, [[Nature]]Scot is asking anyone who spots a flapper skate to take a picture and report it. The mobile phone app is designed to make it easier for the public to submit photos on the go but older photos can also be uploaded since the app recognises the date and time the photo was taken. The data from Skatespotter has already proven to be valuable. It was used by scientists at Marine Directorate in Aberdeen to model the population of flapper skate in the Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura Marine Protected Area (MPA) last year. The model showed that flapper skate are recovering faster inside the MPA than outside. Skatespotter app in use on beach (Image: NatureScot/Catriona Webster) Steven Benjamins of the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) said: 'Most of the data in SkateSpotter is from flapper skate angling in the Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura MPA because that's where most of our contributing skippers are based, with some photos from Orkney and Shetland, the Mull of Galloway and Ireland. With the addition of AI to help us match photos it was time for an app to make it easier for people from all over Scotland to contribute photos of skate and hopefully help us further understand the longer distance movements of these amazing fish.' Jane Dodd, NatureScot's elasmobranch specialist, said: 'We encourage anglers, divers, fishermen and marine surveyors from all over Scotland to download the SkateSpotter app and become citizen scientists, helping us to understand and restore these amazing animals. An army of volunteers using SkateSpotter could generate a much more significant amount of data than a handful of scientists. Flapper skate are generally resident or show site fidelity (leaving and coming back to a site) but they do travel longer distances and we might be underestimating these because most of our SkateSpotter submissions come from specific areas. Imagine being the person who submits a photo of a skate from Shetland only to find the skate originated from Orkney or the west coast of Scotland!' Read More Anyone encountering a flapper skate, either when angling, diving, fishing, surveying or walking on the beach, can submit a photo via the app. They will then be asked for additional information on the general area where the skate was seen, whether it is male or female and its size. Once the photo is submitted, it will be matched against others already in the database by AI or added as a new individual. Contributors will be provided with an update on 'their' skate if it is reported again and sensitive information like fishing marks will not be shared without permission. Flapper skate belongs to the elasmobranch or shark family. Instead of bones, it has a skeleton formed of cartilage. Adult flapper skate can reach up to 285cm (for the larger female sex) and seem to prefer deep (100m+) muddy habitats where they eat prawns and other smaller skates and small sharks. In 2009 it became illegal to land skate in most of Europe which means any skate caught as bycatch should be released unharmed. All angling for this species in Scotland is on a 'catch and release' basis. Recapturing previously identified skate suggests there is no harm to the fish when released. However, common skate are still at risk from unintentional capture in mobile gear such as trawls and dredges.
The Herald Scotland
08-07-2025
- Science
- The Herald Scotland
NatureScot launches app to track Flapper Skate across Scotland
The species belong to the shark family and tend to frequent the same areas – but are also knownto travel long distances. NatureScot has now released a 'Skatespotter' app, which it is hoped will help track the marine creatures as they move across Scotland and give an indication of their numbers. Anglers, divers, fishermen, marine surveyors and beachwalkers are all encouraged to download the app and use it to upload any pictures they take of the fish so it can be cross-referenced with other snaps taken elsewhere. The SkateSpotter mobile app builds on the success of the online flapper skate photo database, which began when angling charter skipper Ronnie Campbell gave 400 digital photos of the fishto the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) in 2018. Seven years later, SkateSpotter, curated by NatureScot with contributions by even more anglers, contains more than 4,000 photos of around 2,500 individual flapper skates - recognisable by their distinctive spot patterns matched with the help of AI. The app can be accessed through a mobile phone (Image: NatureScot) The mobile phone app is designed to make it easier for the public to submit photos on the go, but older photos can also be uploaded since the app recognises the date and time the photo was taken. The data from Skatespotter has already proven valuable and was used by scientists at Marine Directorate in Aberdeen to model the population of flapper skate in the Loch Sunart to the Sound of Jura Marine Protected Area (MPA) last year. The model showed that flapper skate are recovering faster inside the MPA than outside. Jane Dodd, NatureScot's elasmobranch specialist, said: 'An army of volunteers using SkateSpotter could generate a much more significant amount of data than a handful of scientists. 'Flapper skate are generally resident, but they do travel longer distances and we might be underestimating these because most of our SkateSpotter submissions come from specific areas. 'It was time for an app to make it easier for people from all over Scotland to contribute photos of skate and hopefully help us further understand the longer distance movements of these amazing fish.' Anyone encountering a flapper skate, either when angling, diving, fishing, surveying or walking on the beach, can submit a photo via the app. They will then be asked for additional information on the general area where the skate was seen, whether it is male or female and its size. Once the photo is submitted, it will be matched against others already in the database by AI or added as a new individual.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Experts celebrate striking return of rare sea creatures after years of absence: 'They're showing up all over'
Populations of Britain's largest endangered fish species are beginning to rebound after sea anglers spearheaded conservation efforts in the area. The flapper skate, or common skate, is a member of the shark family once found off coastlines around the world, but now they're usually only seen in the Celtic Sea and off the coast of North-West Scotland, according to the Guardian. It's a prize catch for the anglers, since they can weigh up to 214 pounds and measure over nine feet long, but these recreational fishers are simply snapping a photo and returning them to the water. Hundreds of sea anglers campaigned for a legally mandated marine protected area specifically to protect the fish, the report detailed. Now, their photos are being uploaded to a conservation database powered by artificial intelligence, which helps track the individual fish. "The MPA and the conservation has definitely increased their numbers," said Ronnie Campbell, a charter-boat skipper who started his own voluntary no-kill policy for skate years before the European Union banned their capture. Marine conservationists and sea anglers told the Guardian they believe the population's rebound after years of overfishing is a direct result of the MPA and related efforts in the area. The online database, known as Skatespotter, is run by the Scottish Association for Marine Science and currently has up to 300 anglers submitting their trophy photographs, while some have been trained to scan identification tags implanted on many of the fish. The use of AI has greatly helped researchers cut the backlog of images and now holds records of almost 2,500 individual flapper skates, with 5,000 total images, according to the report. "We had a backlog of about 250 photographs in Skatespotter that we hadn't matched, and once we got the AI working, we managed to clear that in two weeks," said Dr. Jane Dodd, who's involved in the project. Although AI has several environmental downsides, its application in these conservation efforts is clearly beneficial. Should the government be paying people to hunt invasive species? Definitely Depends on the animal No way Just let people do it for free Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Preserving the planet's biodiversity helps to maintain a healthy and balanced ecosystem, and with the protection of conservationists, the flapper skate could potentially return to more shores around the world. A recent study by Dodd and project partner Dr. Steven Benjamins found that in zones across the MPA, catch data has increased by 54% to 92%. "They're showing up all over, mostly in Scotland, but I think they're also starting to move down south," Campbell told the Guardian. "You can't be wrong returning fish alive; that can never be wrong." Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
The Guardian
05-04-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
AI scanning helps Scottish conservation project turn tide for flapper skate
Sea anglers will tell you that catching and landing a large flapper skate is the equivalent of running a four-minute mile. The fish can weigh 100kg and stretch the length of a dinner table. The first thing anglers will reach for when they land one is their camera or mobile phone, to capture the unique pattern of white spots ranged across each skate's mottled brown back. These critically endangered members of the shark family are now the focus of one of the largest citizen-science projects in British waters, relying on hundreds of sea anglers who campaigned for a legally mandated marine protected area (MPA) off Oban and Mull specifically to protect the flapper skate, also known as the common skate. Once the skate is released alive into the seas off western Scotland, anglers upload photos to a conservation database that is powered by artificial intelligence and a new mobile phone app. Marine conservationists and anglers believe that as a direct result of the protection offered by the Loch Sunart and Sound of Jura MPA, the species is recovering, nearly 20 years after it was put on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list because of decades of overfishing. That, say its supporters, proves the value of marine protection zones. 'The MPA and the conservation has definitely increased their numbers,' said Ronnie Campbell, a pioneering charter-boat skipper who introduced his own voluntary no-kill policy for skate landed on his boats in the early 1990s – 17 years before the EU banned the landing of skate in 2009. 'They're showing up all over, mostly in Scotland, but I think they're also starting to move down south,' he said. 'You can't be wrong returning fish alive; that can never be wrong.' Up to 300 anglers are submitting data, converting their trophy photographs into scientific evidence; some have been trained to scan the identification tags implanted on many skate. That catch data, including the grid coordinates, is uploaded into a specially designed online database, known as Skatespotter, run by the Scottish Association for Marine Science (Sams) near Oban and the conservation agency NatureScot. Sams and NatureScot turned to AI technology in part because Skatespotter was a victim of its own success. The database now holds records of almost 2,500 individual flapper skate, with 5,000 images. Until the AI scanning became available, every photograph was personally scanned and matched by the researchers. Attempts to draft in volunteers to help foundered because, the volunteers admitted, the work was 'really boring'. The database also takes in skate identification data from as far north as Orkney and from a project in Northern Ireland. And this new AI technique could be applied to other fish conservation projects, greatly increasing their efficiency and speed. Dr Jane Dodd, a NatureScot operations officer involved in the project, said: 'We had a backlog of about 250 photographs in Skatespotter that we hadn't matched, and once we got the AI working, we managed to clear that in two weeks. That had been sitting there for probably six months or a year.' A recent scientific paper by Dodd, her project partner Dr Steven Benjamins from Sams, and two colleagues in the Scottish government's marine directorate found that the MPA had helped the species to rebound rapidly. Catches increased by between 54% and 92% in different parts of the protected area. 'Survival rates improved greatly,' it found, and suggested more MPAs might be needed to protect skate along other parts of the coastline. Benjamins said: 'Flapper skate are large, long-lived top predators, part of this marine ecosystem. They are of a similar trophic level as large terrestrial carnivores. If these were lynx or wolves that we had had for centuries, and then suddenly they disappeared, there would be this massive outcry. 'Instead, we have this enormous animal and very few people know anything about them, which is just extraordinary.' A group of conservation charities comprising Open Seas, the Our Seas coalition and the umbrella body Scottish Countryside Link are pressing ministers in the devolved government in Edinburgh to use evidence such as this to strengthen Scotland's MPA network. In an open letter to Gillian Martin, Scotland's acting net zero and environment secretary, they accuse the government of allowing the 'continued degradation' of the inshore marine environment by failing to introduce promised controls on commercial fishing. The next Holyrood elections are a year away, giving little parliamentary time, but a spokesperson for Martin said those new measures were 'a top priority'. 'We will continue, as we have done from the very start of this process, to reach out and engage with all stakeholders to support our coastal communities working to ensure we find a balanced approach,' the spokesperson said.
