Social distancing doesn’t have to cause scientific distancing! The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) invites you to join us for our Science Exchange Webinar Series – where we bring science to you.
BOEM’s Environmental Studies Program and associated partners conduct an array of scientific studies that support our science-based decision making. Attend our webinars to learn more about this important research. Our next webinar begins May 20, 2020, with more to come later in the spring.
SPACE IS LIMITED so please REGISTER IN ADVANCE
May 20 at 12:00 pm (EDT)
Mapping the Distribution and Habitat Use of Soniferous Fish on Cox’s Ledge, with a Focus on Atlantic Cod Spawning Aggregations
Brian Hooker, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, BOEM
Sofie Van Parijs, Passive Acoustic Research Group, NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center
This BOEM-funded study aims to provide baseline information about important commercial fish species in the Southern New England area to help address potential changes caused by offshore wind development. Researchers will collect data over a three-year period – which began in October 2019 – on spawning Atlantic Cod and other soniferous (sound producing) fish species in and around Cox’s ledge including the Southfork wind energy lease area.
This information will help to inform the starting date for our passive acoustic autonomous ‘glider’ surveys. The first glider survey ran from mid-December 2019 through March 2020. Additional surveys will be extended over longer periods in the next two years. Our talk will highlight the glider survey methods and how we will use the collected data to identify the location and seasonal occurrence of “hotspots” for key commercial and federally listed species.