Sonar has long been vital to our understanding of seafloor features and marine creatures. Now, researchers at the University of New Hampshire are employing new sonar technologies to study imperiled cod populations in New England waters.
“Cod is considered the iconic species of the New England fishery,” says Hunt Howell, UNH professor of zoology. “There are concerns about their population status, so using acoustic technologies can help researchers learn more about their abundance and habitat preferences.”
Multi-beam sonar has been used to map ocean bottom characteristics, but researchers are now applying the technology to estimate cod abundance and spatial distribution. With funding provided by N.H. Sea Grant, Chris Gurshin, a Ph.D. candidate in zoology at UNH, is working with Howell to demonstrate the advantage of multi-beam sonar over more traditional methods of fisheries stock assessment.