Canada: Satellites track the tiny silver fish hugely important to marine life

Herring

Salmon

Seafood

Canada

Innovation & Technology

Published Mar 20, 2024

Tridge summary

The SPECTRAL Remote Sensing Laboratory at the University of Victoria and the Pacific Salmon Foundation are using drones and satellite images to study the annual spring herring spawn along the British Columbia coastline. The research aims to understand changes in spawning distribution, the impact on the availability of baby fish for juvenile salmon, and the role of herring in the food web. The study will also analyze historical data and satellite images dating back to the 1980s to understand the variability in spawning events and the effects of climate change and human development on herring populations.

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Original content

A new scientific endeavour has taken to the sky using high-tech drones and satellite images to understand better the annual spring herring spawn vital to salmon and wildlife on the West Coast. Between February and March each year, frigid ocean waters transform to a milky tropical-looking turquoise green when male herring release milt to fertilize the countless eggs deposited by females on eelgrass, kelp and seaweed fringing coastal shores. Unpredictable and dramatic, the small silver fishes’ spawning event is large and best monitored from great heights, said Loïc Dallaire, a researcher with the SPECTRAL Remote Sensing Laboratory at the University of Victoria. “It’s one of the very few animal formations that we can see from space, excluding human developments and towns,” Dallaire said. “The idea behind remote sensing (technology) is to be able to monitor huge areas while spending less money than big field expeditions that are very, very expensive.” Dallaire has been sprinting to ...

Source: Nationalobserver