The North sea is extensively used for maritime industry.. These activities will put pressure on marine animals, but it will also bring opportunity for new life to settle and expand. We need to assess how North Sea biodiversity is changing in order to know when and how to act effectively. Identification of animals based on their DNA is potentially a fast, cheap and accurate way to do this. This research will focus on developing and applying new techniques based on mitochondrial genomics to better monitor North Sea animals.