Report to the Scientific Committee for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources on the outcomes of the EU-H2020 Project ‘Mesopelagic Southern Ocean Prey and Predators (MESOPP)’ and its utility to SC-CAMLR

The objective of the MESOPP project ‘Mesopelagic Southern Ocean Prey and Predators' is to :

1. Make an inventory of science challenges, stakes and existing policies and develop tools to federate and structure the community;
2. Start to organise the related marine ecosystem community between the EU and Australia through two implementation actions
3. Propose a R&D roadmap to support a large international cooperation on marine ecosystems based on an e-infrastructure, adding additional countries such as USA, New Zealand, Canada (in the Frame of the Galway statement), Brazil and all active countries already involved in large organisations such as IMBER, CCAMLR or IMOS.

MESOPP will focus on the enhancement of collaborations by eliminating various obstacles in establishing a common methodology and a connected network of databases of acoustic data for the estimation of micronekton biomass and validation of models. It will also contribute to a better predictive understanding of the SO based on furthering the knowledge base on key functional groups of micronekton and processes which determine ecosystem dynamics from physics to large oceanic predators.