The Ocean’s Stethoscope: How Technology is Being Used to Study Fish Populations

Overview:

Sooner or later, the food requirements of nine billion people with increasing appetites for seafood must be addressed. Although aquaculture may supply the majority of the global ‘seafood’, most aquaculture is fed meal from wild caught fish, such as sardine and anchovy. To estimate the distributions and abundances of these and other small fish off the west coast, NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center routinely conducts “acoustic-trawl” surveys. Fish are remotely sensed using pulses of underwater sound and their species and sizes are sampled using nets. The resulting information is then provided to the Pacific Fishery Management Council to manage commercial and recreational fishing along the U.S. west coast. Dr. Demer will briefly describe the vessels, instrumentation and methods that are used to conduct these surveys, and provide a virtual tour of the world-class facilities in La Jolla that are used to develop the next generation of autonomous, ocean-sampling technologies. Join us to learn more about this exciting technology and be part of a discussion about possible ethical challenges.

Guest Speaker:

Dr. David Demer, Ph.D.,

Leader of the Advanced Survey Technologies Program (AST) at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) in La Jolla, CA.

Location:

Grossmont College, Building 26, Room 220

Date & Time:

March 13, 2019 from 7-9pm