building beci

In 2022, early BECI project partners convened experts from across the Northern Hemisphere to engage in a series of discussions around topics that could support development of the BECI project. The workshop was attended by international scientists and innovators from Japan, South Korea, China, Russia, the United States and Canada. Below are some key summaries of what we heard during the 2022 BECI Workshop Series.

workshop 1

climate and ocean ecosystem modeling: predicting the state of oceans and fisheries in the North Pacific and Bering sea

The first workshop in the 2022 BECI Workshop Series was held to discuss climate and fishery ecosystem models. The models that were discussed considered time scales for climate projections, areas of the North Pacific that could be included, and potential drivers of future change in North Pacific ecosystems and oceanographic processes. Here’s what we heard:

What we know about existing models:

Global climate models are being used to develop more regional down-scaled models to project future conditions. These downscaling efforts are underway to model more appropriate spatial scales in order to resolve the critical features of the ocean. Results from these regional models can be used to drive various ecosystem models.

Selecting the most appropriate Global Climate Model or Ecosystem Model to downscale from can be challenging. It has been recommended to use a modest number of models that retain the range of outcomes of the whole ensemble and capture critical features of a region (e.g. sea ice in the Bering Sea).

challenges and Opportunities:

The scale and scope of climate change and its impacts on ecosystems is complex. It is further complicated by limitations such as the availability of funds, computer time, and dedicated human resources, as well as being computationally intensive and having weak predictability at the time scales most important to humans (seasonal to decadal). Sometimes, single models can be unreliable, and Global Climate Models don’t always have sufficient spatial resolution to resolve oceanographic processes thought to be critical to ocean production. Multi-model ensembles and downscaling to regional and subregional scales are ways to deal with these limitations, and can be more reliable for policy makers and managers. 

It was noted that unlike the atmospheric community, the ocean community has done less to engage in significant international coordination and modeling. There are widespread challenges in communication, for example between organizations. Despite challenges and limitations, stakeholders and communities are increasingly mobilizing around collaboration, and citizen science may be a useful approach to acquiring certain data required to constrain models. FishMIP is a good example of an existing international collaborative project that uses ensembles of global climate models to drive ecosystem models and project the long-term impacts of climate change on fisheries and marine ecosystems.

Creating a framework for greater collaboration across national and disciplinary boundaries is a significant area of opportunity for BECI. This work could include bringing experts together, breaking down silos, and communicating the importance of outputs for industry, communities, and other end-users.

  1. Communication between a wide range of practitioners both across and within organizations is not as good as it could be and limiting the rate of progress
  2. We can’t predict how species survival, growth, or distribution will react to change in the biophysical environment
  3. There is often weak observational data to evaluate/verify critical model output (e.g. time series of pH/ocean acidification data on the continental shelf)
  4. It would be useful to have forecasts at various time and spatial scales
  5. While predictions at longer time scales (50-100 years) are considered fairly robust, ones at shorter time scales (interannual and decadal) are less reliable due to high internal variability in the models – variability that ‘averages out’ over the longer time scales
  6. Across may organizations and nations, modeling activities are dispersed across organizational units and focus on narrow objectives
  7. Access to sufficient computing power can be limiting
  8. There is a lack of some important knowledge on the mechanisms by which changes in the physical environment affect the distribution and abundance of species
  9. NOAA has model grids for salmon movement, which is an avenue BECI could look at but the entire basin is not included – salmon movement may not be covered when they enter the open ocean, which could be an opportunity to expand
  10. There is a fair bit of work to do for dynamic downscaling and to assess uncertainty in results (ESM model uncertainty x downscaling uncertainty). Modeling intercomparisons amongst downscaled model results are probably the way to work on this 
  11. Downscaled ocean models may be limited by the resolution of (downscaled) atmospheric models
  12. There are some important bits of work to do in planning optimal deployment of observations to validate models, especially with under-sampled parameters which have only recently had technological solutions for cost-effective monitoring 
  13. Coupled downscaled modeling may become important ,but this is not current practice in ocean modeling 
  14. Climate change has taken us to a point where the physical and biological processes that dominate our historical data may not hold in the future
  15. In some countries, the approach to downscaling has been ad hoc, using short-term funding and staffing. Capacity to carry this forward has not been built 
  1. Global Models
    1. There is a lot to learn from thorough analysis of existing outputs from Earth System Models, which is relatively inexpensive research and work that can be implemented quickly with modest resources
    2. Large number of model ensembles will become important
    3. There is an opportunity to improve access to outputs from ocean models
  2. Downscaling
    1. Supporting coordinated efforts on downscaling (e.g. NOAA Climate Ecosystems and Fisheries Initiative CEFI)
    2. Exploring new and less expensive opportunities for cloud based computing
    3. MOM6 expansion to the Pacific could be implemented with modest resources
    4. Looking for tools to allow for collaborative virtual ‘centers’
    5. Looking into artificial intelligence systems to analyze dynamic and statistical downscaling results
  3. Coordination
    1. Following and participating in existing international collaborative research efforts
    2. Bringing together support, efforts, skills and interests of government agencies and university investigators
    3. Creating better communication and coordination between ecosystem modelers, oceanographers, and fisheries scientists applying downscaling
    4. Working with international partners to build out models
  4. Biology and Ecosystems
    1. An effort to assess model prediction including statistical assessment and cross-validation
    2. Sustaining research to understand how changes in the physical and biological environment actually impact distribution, abundance, and growth of fish
    3. Process parameterization in lower trophic levels needs attention. This can be done with relatively short-term funding (grad students, Post Docs and research associates)
  5. Engage with stakeholders early to prepare them for the kind of information that will be coming and to understand their needs for specific/tailored products
    1. It is important to understand the options available under different climate scenarios and how to communicate them to the public.

workshop 2

linking ocean processes and ecosystem changes to fish production

The second workshop in the 2022 BECI Workshop Series examined various approaches to monitoring and ways of understanding biological production of Northeast Pacific ecosystems and how these may affect the production of Pacific salmon and other species. This workshop aimed to identify research topics, survey designs, and potential needs for new technologies.

What do we know about our current ability to predict ocean production?

At this time, we know that researchers and managers have some ability to predict various fish stocks over a short time period (1-3 years). However, increasingly extreme impacts from climate change are changing the physical conditions of marine ecosystems (such as the 2014-2016 marine heatwaves in the Northeast Pacific), causing associated impacts on marine communities (e.g. kelp decline, harmful algal blooms). This is making predictions more challenging and creating limitations in our ability to predict how these changes could impact ocean production.

We can see that downscaled Global Climate Models linked to ecosystem models are showing some promise. There are modern fisheries ecosystem models, such as NOAA’s Atlantis, which can include the diverse impacts/pathways of climate effects in a single model. We also have examples of well-integrated climate modeling projects like ACLIM (the Alaska Climate Integrated Modeling Project). These models can be used by managers and stakeholders to explore potential climate scenarios and plan measures in advance to reduce climate risk. However, these models take lots of time and expertise to develop and refine, and are resource intensive.

challenges and Opportunities:

The scale and scope of climate change and its impacts on ecosystems is complex. It is further complicated by limitations such as the availability of funds, computer time, and dedicated human resources, as well as being computationally intensive and having weak predictability at the time scales most important to humans (seasonal to decadal). Sometimes, single models can be unreliable, and Global Climate Models don’t always have sufficient spatial resolution to resolve oceanographic processes thought to be critical to ocean production. Multi-model ensembles and downscaling to regional and subregional scales are ways to deal with these limitations, and can be more reliable for policy makers and managers. 

It was noted that unlike the atmospheric community, the ocean community has done less to engage in significant international coordination and modeling. There are widespread challenges in communication, for example between organizations. Despite challenges and limitations, stakeholders and communities are increasingly mobilizing around collaboration, and citizen science may be a useful approach to acquiring certain data required to constrain models. FishMIP is a good example of an existing international collaborative project that uses ensembles of global climate models to drive ecosystem models and project the long-term impacts of climate change on fisheries and marine ecosystems.

Creating a framework for greater collaboration across national and disciplinary boundaries is a significant area of opportunity for BECI. This work could include bringing experts together, breaking down silos, and communicating the importance of outputs for industry, communities, and other end-users.

  • We still have some fundamental knowledge gaps about marine ecosystems, such as:
    • A limited understanding of the role of micronekton and their ecological relationship to salmon
    • The linkages between fish conditions and oceanographic conditions
    • Not enough knowledge of the spatial overlap amongst species and how that might compromise food web/ecological modeling
    • A limited understanding of what regulates the production of epipelagic fishes
    • A limited understanding of the exchanges of ecosystem components across ecosystem boundaries
    • The survival of salmon is dropping for many populations, but there is limited knowledge about where this is actually occurring
  •  Our ability to forecast, detect, and respond to the impacts of climate events and ecosystem disruptions (such a marine heatwaves) is limited:
    • Historical data on parameters other than Sea Surface Temperature are scarce which limits the ability to conduct retrospective research on ocean conditions and fish production
    • There is a limited availability of time series, particularly for zooplankton, for fisheries model development and verification
    • There is uncertainty quantification of interannual variability in zooplankton biomass from BioGeoChemical models
    • There is uncertainty in the projected changes in basin-scale circulation (e.g. poleward displacement of North Pacific Current bifurcation
  • Our ability to incorporate the changing climate into fisheries/conservation management decision-making is limited:
    • There is an increasing need for climate-ready fisheries management to ensure effective adaptation strategies
    • There is a need for knowledge of the distribution/migration of key pelagic species (e.g. tuna, salmon)
  • Improvements in climate and ecosystem modeling:
    • Improved models may help forecast ecosystem disruptions, but relying on models alone is unlikely to yield desired results
    • Ensemble modeling could be used to estimate ecological uncertainty
    • In some large marine ecosystems (such as the California Current System) “bottom-up” prediction of fish abundance using biogeochemical models may be improved by incorporation of additional ocean variables (e.g. oxygen)
    • Deep learning approaches may improve prediction from biogeochecmial models
  •  Enhanced real-time monitoring:
    • More real-time monitoring will be required to detect ecosystem disruptions in the early phases to allow for management responses
    • New technologies are needed to provide cost-effective data on ocean conditions – data which can be used to detect anomalous conditions, support research on causal linkages, and constrain/validate models
    • Enhanced tagging and indirect tracking could be used to determine distribution and migration of key species
  • Making better use of existing data and information:
    • Make use of the broadest possible suite of ocean condition indicators to predict fish abundance and distribution. Big Data approaches may be useful
      Proper archival and (shared) inventories of physical samples will provide opportunities for future retrospective research using future techniques
    • Data-driven decomposition of an area into a moderate number of sub-regions may help make the problem in that area more traceable
    • There is existing data on micronekton, particularly in the western North Pacific, which could be aggregated and shared to support research on the ecosystem component
    • An Ocean Best Practices Working Group for fisheries-related data could be a good approach
  • Conducting research in specific areas to improve our understanding of those areas:
    • Targeted physiological and process studies to reduce uncertainty in ecological predictions
    • More research on ecological “tipping points” might help detect anomalous events
    • Investigate the role of long-lived eddies and seamounts as sources for the anomalously patchy distribution
    • Ecosystem research that uses existing spatial gradients in ocean conditions may be a useful analog for the temporal changes anticipated under climate change
    • Research is needed to improve our understanding of the mechanisms by which changes in ocean conditions affect the distribution and abundance of fish – this could improve ecosystem models and predictability
  • Improving the connection between the science and management community, including stakeholders:
    • The science community and its connection to managers and stakeholders will benefit from being more adaptive, collaborative, and interdisciplinary
    • Active dialogue between the science community and managers and stakeholders is critical to determine what is needed and what could be useful to build confidence in this process

workshop 3

Technology and Tools for Monitoring and Synthesis Workshop Summary

The third workshop in the 2022 BECI Workshop Series brought together a discussion from experts on Technology and Tools for Ocean Monitoring and Synthesis, with speakers providing an overview of emerging technologies and tools in their respective fields of expertise that could be applied to monitor to study physical, chemical, and biological ocean conditions and their potential connections to fish distribution and productivity.

Participants were asked to discuss:

    • A brief overview of the technology/tool and its application with respect to monitoring ocean conditions or determining where species of interest could be in the ocean
    • An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the technology/tool
    • Broad suggestions and any other relevant emerging technologies which they may be aware of

Below is the first section of the report, which summarizes responses regarding ocean monitoring platforms and sensors.  

ocean monitoring platforms

1. Overview:

  • Autonomous Vehicles can now operate over, on or under the ocean. An almost limitless combination of platforms and onboard sensors can be configured to optimize platform cost, power, endurance, speed, control and payload to meet the needs of a scientific monitoring or research program. They can be applied in some cases as the sole survey instrument or as a force multiplier. For example, a fleet of aerial drones equipped with video or other sensors to detect whales deployed from a research vessel could increase the area surveyed by the vessel. Autonomous vehicles could conduct advanced surveys to detect ocean features of interest that could then inform the operations of more expensive crewed research vessels

2. Strengths and Weaknesses:

  • There are a large number of physical, bio-geochemical and biological sensors available but quite a number are in early or late stages of development
  • Most challenges are related to power consumption and/or miniaturization
  • Hydroacoustics was limited by high data volumes but Horne and Danielson have developed data compression to effectively transmit data via satellite with enough resolution to inform survey decision-making in near real time
  • Uncrewed surface vessels have been deployed successfully in almost all ocean environments and conditions

3. Suggestions:

  • Kongsberg is a commercial leader that should be engaged
  • Organizations and platforms to be considered: Liquid Robotics, Saildrone, Autonaut, AMS (Datamaran), ASV, Remus, Bluefin and Slocum
  • Taiki Katsumata (Institute of Cetacean Research in Japan) developed a hybrid fixed-wing and rotor Autonomous Aerial Vehicle that can launch from a research vessel in up to 40 kt winds and has cameras to survey marine mammals
  • Eric Lindstrom (expert in oceanography, remote sensing, and data) suggested uncrewed surface vessels (USV’s) are ready to join the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS) with at least a dozen USV’s operating commercially in the open ocean at readiness levels 7-8 (prototype demonstration in an operational environment to a finalized system)
  • Seth Daneilson (University of Alaska Fairbanks) suggested a number of critical in situ observations cannot be obtained by autonomous vehicles and provided a helpful list of AUV sensors by readiness levels – many of which are in the development stage and dealing with challenges associated with power consumption and the need for maturation
    • USV’s have operated in hurricane strength winds, low winds, all latitudes, in strong currents, in high waves, in archipelago’s an in semi-enclosed seas
  • Charles Hannah (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) suggested a hydroacoustic profiler to assess fish and zooplankton distribution and abundance deployed on the open ocean in combination with Argos floats. In the shelf and coastal applications replace the Argos floats with moored profilers (www.multi-electronique.com) and use an autonomous surface vehicle like Open Ocean Robotics Data Xplorer (OpenOceanRobotic.com)
  • Andrew Ziegwied (Ocean AERO Triton) suggested a hybrid ocean glider and sail drone that can operate in surface or dive mode, can function decks-awash or submerged to avoid extreme weather, and are solar and wind powered
    • This could be an ideal solution to studying ocean anomalies and associated features. For example, surface transects could be run to determine a temperature front and a combination of high resolution transects and subsurface dives could sample the feature in three dimensions
  1. Overview:
  • Moored sensors have been in use for quite some time and continue to be valuable tools for high temporal resolution – continuous sampling. Most recent developments include cabled observatories like Venus and Neptune in Canada that have been in place for over a decade

2. Strengths and Weaknesses:

  • Strength – high resolution sampling time. The high temporal resolution is valuable in providing precise timing of events and near-real time is helpful to provide early warning and giving time to consider what is being seen and its potential applications
  • Strength – large numbers of sensors
  • Challenge – limited spatial coverage. Need to understand the representativeness of a given area

3. Suggestions:

  • The Northeast Pacific (Canada-California) is one of the most heavily instrument areas and long-term high-resolution (time and space) monitoring is difficult to maintain
  • Cabled moorings were able to provide signals on recent major ocean events – these are not full answers but could be an early warning system
  • There are changes to upwelling due to time and intensity of winds that drive it
  • Ocean Networks Canada is working on developing a BC Ocean Acidification plan similar to others around the Pacific Rim

1. Overview:

  • Remote sensing continues to advance in providing high resolution measurements of essential ocean variables. New satellites are coming on-line regularly. There are approaches to combining images over time to remove cloud cover that has been problematic and there are techniques/products to examine bioregions of interest including the phenology of indicators like Chlorophyl-a that can identify timing and intensity of the spring bloom. These data are available from 1997 to the present and will be a key tool to investigate 2019, 2020 and 2022 distributions of fish and prey in relation to primary and secondary production
2. Strengths and Weaknesses:
  • Strength – High resolution in time and space
  • Challenge – cloud cover – solved if images can be combined over an appropriate time window (Maycira). Participants also suggested this challenge depends on the ocean variable. Temperature will be compromised for some time but variables measured using infrared such as wind speed are right around the corner. Salinity is problematic.
  • Challenge – development and access to products relevant to the broad North Pacific Ocean
  • Opportunity – we have good data from 1997 to present and we will shortly have spectacular data (PACE)

3. Suggestions:

  • Regarding the measurement primary productivity, the existing technology of the Sentinel 3 satellite system provides very good daily measurements of SST, Chlorophyl-a and phytoplankton by species.
  • Eric Lindstrom provided background on the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (http://ceos.org) and the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS)
  • Maycira Costa (University of Victoria) suggested that since 2000 there has been an increasing ability to measure colour Sentinel 3 are currently available to measure sea surface height, temperature and colour. European Space Agency Sentinel 3 is about to launch.
  • There is a new generation of satellites will launch in the near future, including PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud and ocean Ecology) – high spectral resolution of color
  • There is a challenge to making these products available. Canada for example has no program for making relevant products available to Canadian interests. Algal Explorer developed by UVic is sunsetting and could be picked up. BECI will need to consider the development of these products for the NPO. Products for the time period of the 2019, 2020 and 2022 expedition will provide an indication of how these data sets relate to the distribution and abundance of salmon and their prey.

Charles Hannah (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) provided the following insights with regard to forecast models for the Basin and Shelf scales:

  • Many countries have operational ocean forecast models that are useful for the North Pacific
    Given that they assimilate Argo float data, the temperature, salinity, and upper ocean stratification are generally credible
  • There are numerous quasi-operational models that simulate basic biogeochemical variables and lower trophic levels
  • There must be numerous ways these models can be used to provide value to BECI for operational decision making
  • For years, Canada has combined modelled currents, SST, and winds, with statistical models to provide estimates of return timing for Fraser River sockeye and to predict whether the returning fish will go inside or outside of Vancouver Island on their way to the Fraser River

Understanding salmon interactions with the environment will require observations from both freshwater river systems and the Ocean. Charles Hannah (DFO) provided the following insights to understanding freshwater temperatures and flow in major river systems in BC:

  • Warm river water has become a major issue for salmon survival in BC
  • There is a quasi-operational temperature and flow model for the Fraser River
  • There should be one for all major rivers
  • These are not complicated models
  • They do require a network of temperature gauges and field work to establish water height versus discharge relationships
  • The atmospheric forcing data is available

    Eric Lindstrom pointed to the coming revolution in monitoring freshwater flow with new satellites measuring high resolution (5m) altimetry. By the end of the decade we will be monitoring the water levels of 3 million rivers and lakes on the planet. This would suggest comprehensive and low cost (presumably) river flow data may soon be available.

Next is the second section of the report, which summarizes tools to determine distribution and biological condition of upper trophic level biota including fish, their prey and predators.

SPECIES BIOLOGICAL CONDITION AND DISTRIBUTION

1. Overview:

  • Tagging fish is a popular approach to determining distribution and migratory patterns of fish. Approaches range from simple physical tags with identifying information that provide observations of movement whenever the fish is caught to sophisticated electronic tags that can archive or transmit information about the fish’s position to satellites or broadcast a unique radio signal that is picked up by mobile or fixed lines of sensors

2. Strengths and Weaknesses:

  • Strengths – able to document often detailed patterns in migration, survival, and behavior
  • Weaknesses – generally small sample size, shedding, size and impact on fish (is behavior modified by the tag?), high cost
  • Challenges in augment detections with land-based relays or detectors
  • Tagging still requires capture and release with high upfront or deployment costs

3. Suggestions:

  • With advances in reducing battery size we are able to use smaller and less intrusive tags and reduce costs

  • David Welch  points out the pressing need to understand survival and movement in life history stage-specific stanzas and emphasized miniaturization of acoustic tags has improved over time and can be applied to ~6cm fish

    • Critically, acoustic telemetry has two big strengths:

      • Allows quantifying survival in different life history periods

      • Allows formal testing of theories: “survival is primarily determined in period X

  • Melinda Holland suggested multiple tag types evolving with miniaturization and reduced power:
    • Micro-PAT are small pop-up tags. Size is limited by requirements to keep the tag upright for satellite communication. These Tags have advanced in their use of positional location based on light/depth and now a host of other parameters that produce likelihood estimates the more explicitly express error. On board “EDGE COMPUTING” allows sophisticated event detection that can be relayed up to the satellite
    • ROAM 9FAFOS Ocean Acoustic Monitoring) technology is being tested this summer and Atlantic NASCO parties are very keen
    • A proliferation of satellite’s connecting devices (the Internet of Things) can support innovative connections across tags – for example, the animal-borne PIT Tag Reader
  1. Overview:
  • Environmental DNA (eDNA) is organismal DNA that can be found in the environment. Environmental DNA originates from cellular material shed by organisms (via skin, excrement, etc.) into aquatic (or terrestrial) environments that can be sampled and monitored using new molecular methods. Such methodology is important for the detection of various species in the environment through collections of water samples that are then processed to determine what DNA are present which is tied to location data. Water collection can be sampled much more cost effectively than deploying multiple gear types and using visual identification techniques to assess biodiversity of an ecosystem. There are two primary genetic sequencing tools for eDNA. One is metabarcoding to identify the species present and quantitative PCR to identify species present an quantify the amount of DNA present

2. Strengths and Weaknesses:

  • Strengths – non invasive, comprehensive (one sample reflects the entire ecosystem), automatable (potential for reduced collection of costs)
  • Weaknesses – need to continue to build DNA barcode inventories, choice must be made on targeted detections, potential contamination with offal, cost of sequencing
  • Assessing abundance of a species is advancing but still a challenge
  • There is increased opportunity for collection with advances in technology
  • Technology improves over time with feedback from scientists as new methods develop and become more efficient

3. Suggestions:

  • There is opportunity to pair eDNA with other emerging technologies (such as sail drones or tritons) to facilitate and extend collection ranges – AUVs and Argo floats
  • The use of remote collection systems could remove the challenges of contamination

1. Overview:

  • Genomic technology called Fit Chips can determine the status of genes at the time the fish was captured to assess the cumulative effects of environmental stressors such as temperature, salinity and low oxygen as well as document physiological condition, the presence of up to 60 known pathogens and two species of harmful algae. This technology allows the fish to tell us about their condition and what is affecting them
2. Strengths and Weaknesses:
  • Strengths – minimally invasive, provides direct evidence of the impacts of salmon
  • Weaknesses – requires a physical sample, sampling is time sensitive, and the stress from being caught affects results so sampling needs to be done immediately

3. Suggestions:

  • This is similar to eDNA but requires physical samples
  • Looking further into eDNA/RNA integration

1. Overview:

  • Stable isotopes, elements, & compounds stored in annual growth increments of hard parts can be used to reconstruct age-specific changes in life history. Able to extract hormones from annual growth increments. Chemical component analysis can be applied to reconstruct the environmental history of a fish including its location at any time of its life. Collections may be taken from otoliths, eye lens, vertebral centra
2. Strengths and Weaknesses:
  • Strengths
    • Reconstruct age-specific life history events and environmental conditions
    • Determine migration history (long record) and trophic level
    • Assess management assumptions regarding reproductive life history
    • Assess effects of environmental change on health (stress), reproductive potential, ecology with no stress to fish at collection
    • Historical / Temporal Context
  • Weaknesses
    • Logistical Issues
    • Sample Mass
    • As age increases, annual growth increments become smaller/less discernible
    • Samples from old fish can represent more than a year
    • Developmental Conditions

3. Suggestions:

  • Stable isotopes, elements and compounds stored in annual growth increments of hard parts can be used to reconstruct age-specific changes in life history
  • Many life history traits are being impacted by climate change and this tool can be used to test assumptions
  • There are examples of more accurate predictions of migration routes by combining growth migration models with chemical reconstruction
  • Hypothesis is then tested using eDNA in the field
  1. Overview:
  • Hydroacoustics is the study of sound in water. Because of the physical properties of the ocean, light waves can only travel a few feet in water before their energy is absorbed. Sound waves, on the other hand, travel great distances underwater without losing strength, making sound a very effective method for observing geological and biological phenomena in the ocean. Passive acoustic studies use underwater microphones (called hydrophones) to listen in on these natural phenomena and find out where in the ocean they occur. Hydroacoustic monitoring (listening to underwater sounds) of the North Pacific Ocean has revealed the region to be dynamic and constantly evolving in terms of both geologic and biologic activity. Active hydroacoustic studies use echosounders that emit sound pulses of varying frequencies and record the strength and distance of returning echo’s that can determine the location and abundance of fish or plankton in the water column. Sounders can be used to survey the water column across an area of the ocean using ships or autonomous vehicles or they can assess changes in the water column at a specific location using an upward looking sounder attached from to stationary mooring. Active hydroacoustics show potential for surveying the distribution and abundance of salmon in the North Pacific Ocean (NPO)

2. Strengths and Weaknesses:

  • Strengths – year-round, high-resolution, multi-disciplinary, multi-trophic level with choice with mobile surfaces
  • Weaknesses – stationary platform challenges are long term deployment and data distribution (possible solutions being autonomous, solar power or low tech communication)

3. Suggestions:

  • Different platforms now exist from which to choose
    • Ship or various AUV options – considerations should include science objectives, data quality, sample design and relative costs
  • Two important points: critically important in situ measurements can not be collected by any autonomous platform and autonomous sensors are improving, but shipboard technologies and techniques are also improving
  • Hydroacoustics technology is very effective in documenting the distribution and abundance of organisms in three dimensions
  • Acoustic technology can be deployed from stationary moored platforms, ships (stationary or underway), ocean gliders and saildrones
  • Clever survey designs using the right platforms equipped with acoustic technology and the capacity to apply eDNA sequencing could be the answer to documenting biodiversity in the open ocean ecosystems.
  • Cloud computing is now available to provide digital infrastructure to collate, integrate, analyze, distribute and visualize data from multiple sources
  • Note that Russian ecosystem surveys have used acoustics to assess salmon abundance to complement systematic trawl surveys. They acknowledge fish in the upper 5 metres or so are not sampled due to a narrow acoustic beam and turbulence directly under the vessel
  • One rationale for BECI would be that it could greatly increase our ability to observe and quantify how and why life in the sea is changing
  • There is a need to move from traditional approaches of mainly going to sea in ships and building up observations over extended periods of time to a more intense near-real time global and interdisciplinary ocean monitoring system that makes use of emerging technologies like autonomous vehicles and eDNA
  • The new and existing technologies highlighted in this workshop demonstrate that a well-designed implementation of remote sensing, ships, autonomous vehicles, moorings and tagging tools could deliver a cost effective near-real time monitoring framework for the NPO
  • eDNA can already be sequenced in hours aboard a ship and can be collected at sea by autonomous gliders; in the near future sequencing will also be done aboard autonomous vehicles
  • Autonomous vehicles are proliferating, and a combination of platforms and sensors could drive affordable research and monitoring required by BECI is the right balance is found
  • Ship-based monitoring and research will remain an essential part of ocean research and monitoring programs, but it is important to note that ship-board technology continues to improve
  • Monitoring technologies are being developed and applied globally at a remarkable rate – BECI could find a way to leverage these ongoing efforts
  • New satellites will be online in the next few years that will increase resolution dramatically, and new altimetry sensors will revolutionize hydrology
  • BECI can help play a role in ground-truthing from in situ samples for remote sensing
  • Acoustic tags are now small enough to be applied to fish ~6pm which means they can be applied for almost all salmon populations and used to study migration and survival in shelf/slope waters
  • Acoustic tags can be used to study hypotheses of survival in discrete places and times
  • A sampling design of arrays for the Northeast Pacific is proposed the could be used for salmon and potentially other marine species of fish and mammals
  • Satellite pop up tags are now much smaller, and in combination with improved location algorithms, onboard EDGE computing, and rapidly evolving satellite constellations (the Internet of Things) they are a tool to be considered for understanding high seas distribution, migration, and behavior or salmon and other fishes
  • Fit chips are genomic technology that is capable of assessing the genes that are turned on in a fish and can allow a non-invasive sample, such as a gill filament clip, which tells us the physiological condition of a fish, the presence of pathogens, or environmental conditions affecting it
  • Hydroacoustic technology deployed using ships and autonomous vehicles and coupled with in situ eDNA sampling has the potential to be the backbone for monitoring the biodiversity of open ocean ecosystems.
  • Stable isotopes, elements and compounds stored in annual growth increments of hard parts can be used to reconstruct age-specific changes in life history. Combining the with growth-migration models can produce much more accurate estimations of fish migrations
  • Demonstrated that these predictions can be tested using eDNA in the field. These techniques can be applied for most if not all species