Research Studies
The ESRF is currently supporting the following research projects:
Southern Region
Assessment of potential risks of seismic surveys to affect groundfish resources (ESRF Project 2018-01S).
Oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic offshore has been very active at a time when the fishing industry in the same area is becoming increasingly reliant on rebuilding the groundfish fishery. The effects of ocean noise on marine life are a growing concern globally, however the specific impacts including non-lethal effects and how they are manifested remain poorly defined for many species including fish. This project incorporated several different measurement metrics to examine potential risks of seismic air gun surveys to affect commercially important and culturally important groundfish species, including commercial catchability, and fish behaviour. A key value of this research project is how it has incorporated realistic season-long 3D seismic surveying with wide-ranging environmental conditions assessing several groundfish species.
Atlantic salmon in the Eastern Canadian offshore regions (ESRF Regions 8 to 15): timing, duration and the effects of environmental variability and climate change (ESRF Project 2019-01S).
Of the Atlantic Canadian fish species, Atlantic salmon has one of the most complex life histories and migration patterns, including routes from freshwater rivers to as far as the Labrador Sea. The objective of this project is to understand migration behaviours and determine when, where and for how long Atlantic salmon are in the Eastern Canadian offshore regions. A highlight of the project’s field work is the capture and tagging of over 4000 salmon from over 30 different rivers, with the support of an extensive network of partnerships with Indigenous communities across Atlantic Canada. Results from this project will support regulatory decision making in Canada’s areas of offshore oil and gas activity and are beginning to be communicated, including an article about the oceanographic modelling analysis which has been published in the journal Progress in Oceanography. You can also follow the tagging of Atlantic salmon on the project Facebook page.
Exploring diversity in Indigenous Knowledge Systems: Community engagement by the Atlantic Regional Aboriginal Aquatic Resource and Oceans Management (AAROM) Organizations (ESRF Project 2023-01S)
Conceptualized as a knowledge system, Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) captures the understanding that knowledge is acquired in many ways. The knowledge itself is derived from practice, adaptation, and transmission, and is informed by values derived from an underlying belief system (Giles, Fanning, Denny, & Pau, 2016; White, 2012). IKS are dynamic, complex, ongoing, comprehensive, but more importantly, they are based on ways of knowing that are uniquely tribal and place based. As such, there may be as many IKS as there are Indigenous nations (Kovach, 2009). This project will provide support and resources to Atlantic Regional Aboriginal Aquatic Resource and Oceans Management (AAROM) organisations on Canada's East Coast to gather information, best practices, and to develop regional approaches to address the use of IKS in informed decision-making in the offshore.
ESRF Publication Fund
In 2023, the ESRF Management Board allocated specific funding to promote the publication of past ESRF-sponsored research into the peer-reviewed, open access literature, to ensure that ESRF-funded research is recognized by regulators, stakeholders and the public as a reliable and credible source of research and scientific information to support regulatory decision-making in Canada’s offshore areas. Five projects are currently being funded under this initiative:
- An assessment of the potential risks of seismic surveys to affect snow crab resources (2023-02S)
- Pinniped acoustic occurrence off Eastern Canada, 2015-2017 (2023-03S)
- Underwater soundscapes of eastern Canada: natural baseline, anthropogenic influence, and the effects of oil and gas activities on the communication space of marine mammals (2023-04S)
- Odontocete acoustic occurrence off eastern Canada, 2015-2017 (2023-05S)
- Effects of seismic survey sound on cetaceans in the Northwest Atlantic (2023-06S)
Northern Region
Using undersea autonomous glider technology to monitor marine mammals and ship noise in the eastern Beaufort Sea (ESRF Project 2021-01N)
Populations of bowhead whales have been difficult to find during the Beaufort Sea annual surveys. Researchers suspect that individuals may have migrated later and/or further offshore than usual, or even the possibility that some did not migrate at all. The use of an autonomous glider will enable continuous sound recording along acoustic transects and allow data collection much further offshore than is possible with currently deployed acoustic receivers. The results will inform whether the bowhead migration route and timing has shifted further offshore and later in the season. In addition, the results will also supplement the core-use areas posted for both beluga and bowhead whales used in the Canadian Coast Guard Notice to Mariners (NOTMAR), whale avoidance broadcasts and serve as important information for any future assessments of potential oil and gas activities in the area.
Proactive disclosure of funding agreements
Information on funding agreements within the ESRF over $25,000.