ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) launched the DeepDATA mobile application on 23 July 2026 to document deep-sea fish observations and create a national digital repository.
DeepDATA — Core Features
- Purpose: Species-level documentation of deep-sea fishes with fields for taxonomy, identifying features, distribution, conservation status and photographs.
- Data capture: Accepts geotagged photographs and observational metadata from fishing operations, research cruises and coastal surveys.
- Platform: Released as an Android app on the Google Play Store for field-level data entry.
Institutional & Programme Linkages
- Developed under: Deep Ocean Mission with funding from the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES).
- Implementing agency: CMFRI, an ICAR institute headquartered in Kochi, responsible for marine fisheries research and resource assessment.
- Data custody: Submissions vetted by CMFRI scientists before incorporation into the national repository.
Scientific and Taxonomic Utility
- Taxonomic fields: Supports scientific names, family-level classification and diagnostic characters for identification.
- Conservation linkage: Records include IUCN Red List status where available for threat assessment.
- Depth-classification: Uses ocean zones relevant to deep-sea fauna — mesopelagic (200–1,000 m), bathypelagic (1,000–4,000 m), abyssopelagic (4,000–6,000 m), hadal (>6,000 m).
IASPOINT Booster Facts
- Citizen science model: Public submissions form primary data; expert validation is mandatory for database entry.
- Use cases: Biodiversity inventories, baseline data for deep-sea resource assessment and support to Deep Ocean Mission research outputs.