The Beaufort Sea Active Acoustic Program, used cutting-edge fisheries sonar to map the distribution and abundance of Arctic cod for the first time in the offshore Beaufort Sea. The SIMRAD SX90 fish finding sonar was deployed from the research icebreaker Amundsen to detect fish populations. During a six-week survey in 2011, acoustic transects covered the Mackenzie Shelf and its slope, including a region of enhanced biological productivity NE of Cape Bathhurst, the deeper Amundsen Gulf, and areas licensed for oil exploration. A Rectangular Midwater Trawl and gillnets was used to collect, identify, and measure the fish species that were detected by the sonar. To further validate the acoustic signal, the study was repeated in 2012 in conjunction with a fish population program led by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The data will enable scientists to describe the distribution and migration of Arctic cod and other fish in relation to temperature, salinity, sea ice, sea bottom type, and the abundance of preys and predators. Information will help assess fisheries resources in the offshore Beaufort Sea and the potential impacts of oil and gas exploration on fish ecology, as well as the effects of future changes linked to climate warming.
