Towards Sustainable Management of Mussel Farming through High-Resolution Images and Open Source Software—The Taranto Case Study

Abstract

This research activity, conducted in collaboration with the Aero-Naval Operations Department of the Guardia di Finanza of Bari as part of the Special Commissioner for urgent measures of reclamation, environmental improvements and redevelopment of Taranto’s measurement, is based on the use of a high-resolution airborne sensor, mounted on board a helicopter to identify and map all in operation and abandoned mussel farming in the first and second inlet of Mar Piccolo. In addition, factors able to compromise the environmental status of the Mar Piccolo ecosystem were also evaluated. The methodological workflow developed lets extract significant individual frames from the captured video tracks, improves images by applying five image processing algorithms, georeferences the individual frames based on flight data, and implements the processed data in a thematic Geographical Information System. All mussel farms, in operation and derelict, all partially submerged and/or water-coated invisible to navigation poles and other elements such as illegal fishing nets and marine litter on the seabed up to about 2 m deep, have been identified and mapped. The creation of an instant, high-precision cartographic representation made it possible to identify the anthropogenic pressures on the Mar Piccolo of Taranto and the necessary actions for better management of the area.