Vision statement: By 2030 we will have established internationally accepted standards and quality control measures, including the development of methods, tools and training materials for the documentation, annotation and archiving of in-situ marine visual data and metadata; all data will be open and FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable), supporting use in automation of observations, and global-scale assessments of biodiversity to inform sustainable development and management of marine resources. These standards and quality control measures will be adopted and employed by others forming best practice.