Abstract
This report provides a summary of monitoring activities and data analyses completed by FORCE up to the end of 2023. In addition, it also highlights findings from international research efforts, previous data collection periods at the FORCE site, and additional research work that is being conducted by FORCE and its partners. This includes supporting fish tagging efforts with Acadia University and the Ocean Tracking Network, radar research projects, and subsea instrumentation platform deployments through the Fundy Advanced Sensor Technology (FAST) Program.
The report presents details regarding future research and monitoring efforts at the FORCE test site. This includes work in support of the adaptive nature of the EEMP and the RAP program.
Key updates in this report include:
- FORCE and the Ocean Tracking Network merged their lines of acoustic receivers into a single array of 24 stations that span the vast majority of Minas Passage; increasing the chances of detecting tagged fish as they navigate through the area
- Fish tagging for 2023 was completed under the Risk Assessmnet Program in partnership with Acadia University and the Mi'kmaw Conservation Group and focused on alewife, American shad and Innery Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon smolts.
- FORCE and its collaborators published three new peer-reviewed papers on the use of acoustic telemetry for estimating probability of fish encountering a tidal turbine installed at the FORCE tidal demonstration site in Minas Passage. These three 'companion' manuscripts were published as 'open-access' articles in a special issue of the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering entitled 'Interface between offshore renewable energy and the environment'.