Issue 7, November 2008

More and More Researchers Collaborating and Sharing Data

All VEMCO receivers are designed to detect any VEMCO transmitter thus allowing researchers across different projects to work together, share data, and leverage each other's arrays. The following are various networks of research groups already taking a collaborative approach. If you are interested in more information about these networks and how your group can benefit, please feel free to contact them directly. Also, if you know of other networks not listed here, please let us know.

Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Project (POST)

POST was created to monitor the movement of marine animals through an array of VEMCO listening stations set along the west coast of North America. Little is known about key aspects of the biology of threatened and commercially valued species upon which fisheries assessments are critically dependent. POST results give much needed information about their behaviour and provide unprecedented insight into the mysteries of migration. If you are interested in the POST array extending to a region that is of particular importance to you, please contact Jonathan Thar.

Australian Acoustic Tracking and Monitoring System (AATAMS)

AATAMS is an enhanced, nationally integrated capacity to collect marine data, draw it together and make it accessible to all researchers. The Australian Acoustic Tracking and Monitoring System (AATAMS) aims to:

• Form a national network and increase collaboration between acoustic tracking researchers;
• Invest in over 200 permanent, strategically located receivers (VR2Ws and VR3s) to maximize national benefit and form a continental array with existing infrastructure; and
• Initiate an internationally coordinated Marine Animal Tracking program in collaboration with the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN).

For more information on AATAMS, please contact Charlie Huveneers.

Florida Atlantic Coast Telemetry (FACT) Array

The FACT array is a regional coordination of multiple acoustic telemetry projects aimed at tracking the movements of multiple species' within and between ecosystems. The array is composed of two portions: the northern array in the Mosquito/Indian River Lagoons, and the southern array of St. Lucie and Loxahatchee estuaries and adjacent reefs. The FACT collaboration addresses and demonstrates the importance of considering ecosystem-scale fish movements in subtropical coastal research and management, and currently has close to 150 receivers in operation.

For more information on FACT, please contact Samantha Whitcraft.

Atlantic Cooperative Telemetry (ACT)

ACT is a large-scale, collaborative approach to acoustic telemetry for monitoring various fish and invertebrate species in the Eastern United States whose goals are to:

• Collaborate seamlessly among all VEMCO users along Atlantic Coast
• Add VEMCO users along Gulf Coast
• Link with other existing regional networks

Using a collaborative approach allows for scaling of study areas, provides more leverage when dealing with funding agencies, and increases purchasing power with vendors. For more information on ACT, please contact Tom Savoy or Dewayne Fox.

California Fish Tracking Consortium (CFTC)

The California Fish Tracking Consortium consists of many different groups working together to manage an extensive array of acoustic monitors for tracking fish movement and mortality. The consortium shares more than 200 acoustic monitors that are spread throughout the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems as well as the delta and San Francisco Bay. The main objectives of the project are:

• Obtain high-resolution movement data throughout the Sacramento river watershed, delta and San Francisco Bay all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge
• Estimate reach-specific mortality data
• Analyze these survival and movement patterns with regards to environmental data

For more information on CFTC, please contact Dr. Peter Klimley.

Ocean Tracking Network (OTN)

Headquartered at Dalhousie University, OTN unites leading ocean scientists around the globe. The OTN is conducting the world's most comprehensive and revolutionary examination of movements of marine life and their links to ocean conditions, and how both are changing as the earth warms. Using leading edge, "made in Canada" technology, OTN is collecting data that will lead to a global standard for ocean management in a way never before possible. OTN will initially be deploying over 1,500 receivers worldwide to complement existing arrays. The long-term goal is to deploy 5,000 receivers globally.

For more information on OTN, please contact Fred Whoriskey