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Environmental Effects Monitoring Program Quarterly Report January-March 2025

This report outlines monitoring activities and results of data analyses conducted at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy test site in the Minas Passage, Bay of Fundy during January through March 2025. Specifically, this report highlights results of environmental monitoring activities conducted by FORCE and other research and development activities conducted at the FORCE site. This report also provides a summary of international research activities around tidal stream energy devices.

Key updates in this report include:

  • Ocean Energy Systems Environment (OES-E) released their 2024 State of the Science Report
    on September 18, 2024. The information in this report represents the global state of knowledge
    about the environmental effects of marine renewable energy (MRE) devices from studies and
    monitoring activities, and is built on publicly available peer-reviewed scientific literature and
    reports published by researchers, developers, and government agencies, and as seen through
    the lens of many of the leading MRE researchers in the field.
  • 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.
  • FORCE, in collaboration with DFO, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations and First Nations communities has helped establish the Bay of Fundy Acoustic Telemetry Consortium. The group works together to coordinate acoustic receiver deployment and acoustic tagging activities for a variety of fishes in the Bay of Fundy; enhancing efficiencies and knowledge sharing.