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University of Windsor
Research scientist to lead Arctic aquatic species tracking system
A UWindsor scientist will help lead the Arctic portion of a $168-million effort to measure the effects of climate change on the global movement of a wide variety of aquatic species.~
Aaron Fisk, a researcher in the University’s Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER), will join the Ocean Tracking Network—a seven-year, world-wide initiative—to track the movement of at-risk fish and aquatic mammals.
Dubbed by some as "Blackberries for fish," tracking devices will be implanted in fish and marine mammals. Scientists will create an “acoustic curtain” by locating electronic signal receivers at various points on the floors of 14 oceans across seven continents. Those receivers will record the signals emitted by the tracking devices to provide scientists with valuable data about their travel patterns.
Dr. Fisk will travel to Cumberland Sound, Nunavut, this summer to place 24 external satellite tags on Greenland halibut and surgically implant about 150 acoustic tags in species such as Greenland shark, Arctic char and Arctic cod. His team will monitor a 1,500-kilometre stretch to track the migration of species between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic. Fisk received $380,000 in direct funding and will help lead a 14-member group including partners at the University of Manitoba and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans. |
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Aaron Fisk, a UWindsor grad (BSc 1991, MSc 1995) |
“We know surprisingly little about the movement of Arctic marine mammals, even less about Arctic fish,” said Fisk, a Canada Research Chair and an associate professor at GLIER and the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences. “As polar ice changes, it’s highly likely to impact the migratory patterns of Arctic species, as well as those from more temperate regions. This technology will give us never-before-seen insight into global marine animal movements, which is crucial for developing conservation strategies to maintain balance in a constantly changing global environment.”
Led by researchers at Dalhousie University, the Ocean Tracking Network is supported with about $45 million in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Aaron Fisk, right, prepares to tag a Greenland shark during a recent expedition in Norway.