Normandeau's Chris Gurshin Studies Atlantic Cod Populations With Multibeam Sonar | Bedford, NH — Friday, August 28, 2009 — Mr. Chris Gurshin, a Normandeau senior scientist and Ph.D. candidate at the University of New Hampshire (UNH), is using multibeam sonar and other acoustic technologies to study cod abundance with funding from N.H. Sea Grant under major advisor Dr. Hunt Howell. The research was featured in a recent UNH press release which was picked up by SavingSeafood.com, SeacoastOnline.com and the Portsmouth Herald (Monday, August 17th).
Mr. Gurshin's dissertation research aims at developing multibeam sonar as a fisheries tool for stock assessment and identification of essential fish habitat by first understanding the relationships between acoustic backscatter and cod abundance through offshore cage experiments and then applying those findings to field surveys of local cod spawning grounds. Preliminary results funded by the Northeast Consortium during the first year of research were well received by the New England Fishery Management Council's Research Steering Committee at their August 6, 2009 Meeting and were published in the July 2009 issue of ICES Journal of Marine Science , a peer-reviewed publication of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea.
At Normandeau Associates, Mr. Gurshin and other Normandeau scientists use remote aquatic sampling technologies to study many aquatic environmental issues, such as fish passage at hydroelectric facilities and fish impingement at power plants. Advantages of sonar technologies in particular include superior temporal and spatial resolution, larger sampling volumes, and is less invasive compared to traditional survey methods. |
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Normandeau Associates Media Contact
Elizabeth Evarts
603.472.5191 Ext 115
bevarts@normandeau.com
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