Materials immersed in water experience a series of biological and chemical processes, resulting in the formation of complex layers with attached organism, known as biofouling. Biofouling In the aquatic environment shortens the life-time of immersed structures increases fuel consumption of ships and affects the functioning and data quality of water Instrumentation. All immersed instrumentation, including operational components (membranes, optical windows and electrodes), housings and mooring components are subject to biofouling and prone to irreversible damage. In marine environments biofouling has long been considered a limiting factor and is recognised as one of the main obstacles for long term in-situ monitoring. For a large percentage of deployed instrumentation, biofouling is the single biggest factor affecting the operation, maintenance, and data quality and responsible for high ownership costs to the point where it becomes prohibitively expensive to maintain operational networks and infrastructure. The selection of materials, and coatings with anti-fouling properties has become an increasingly difficult challenge but one that must be constantly reviewed and updated to advance the development of materials, composites and coatings that can be widely used in aquatic ecosystems and allow devices and structures submerged or in contact with water to last longer and reduce maintenance costs. In this scoping study, a range of materials commonly used in the construction of marine sensors and 2 anti-fouling paints were deployed for 1 year to test their robustness and anti-fouling performance in the estuarine brackish water ecosystem in Dublin. Exposed panels were assessed using eDNA (16S rRNA, 18S rRNA) and image analysis with microscope techniques, to characterise the biodiversity of both the microbiofouling (i.e., microscopic bacteria and algae) and the macrobiofouling organisms (i.e., barnacles and mussels). Results presented will discuss the biofouling progression on different materials and the role they have in the design of antifouling strategies. In addition, the work demonstrates the benefits of environmental testing in rapid screening of antifouling materials for the marine environment.