This report provides a summary of monitoring activities and data analyses completed by FORCE during the first quarter of 2024. In addition, it also highlights findings from international research efforts, previous data collection periods at the FORCE site, and additional research work that is being conducted by FORCE and its partners. This includes supporting fish tagging efforts with Acadia University and the Ocean Tracking Network, radar research projects, and subsea instrumentation platform deployments through the Fundy Advanced Sensor Technology (FAST) Program. Finally, the report presents details regarding future research and monitoring efforts at the FORCE test site. This includes work in support of the adaptive nature of the EEMP and the RAP program.

Key updates in this report include:

• The Tidal Task Force on Sustainable Tidal Energy Development in the Bay of Fundy recently issued its Final Report. The report includes a revised staged approach to tidal stream energy project permitting at the FORCE site that was developed in collaboration with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, aligns with provincial licensing, and includes adaptive management conditions for environmental monitoring that improves understanding of how fish interact with tidal stream energy devices.
• FORCE has partnered with the Acadia Tidal Energy Institute on a new initiative that aligns with the priorities of the Risk & Monitoring Working Group of the Tidal Task Force on Sustainable Tidal Energy Development in the Bay of Fundy. The initiative includes a series of complementary desktop studies to inform a larger field-based project to understand how fish interact with tidal stream energy devices at FORCE.
• FORCE has partnered with Innovasea and a series of other collaborators on an Ocean Supercluster funded project to advance the application of artificial intelligence for monitoring fish around hydroelectric and tidal stream energy projects.