Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Natural Resources Canada

Technology Transfer Award

For the successful development, transfer and commercialization of multibeam seafloor imaging applications for the fishing industry

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Team Members

Gerard Costello, Michael Lamplugh
Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Bob Courtney, Vladimir Kostylev, Dick Pickrill, Brian Todd
Natural Resources Canada

Charting the ocean floor with the thoroughness of a mapmaker on land, this environmentally conscious technology has rejuvenated a beleaguered fishing industry while protecting the underwater habitat that sustains it. Beginning in 1992, scientists from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) at the famed Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth developed unique software that converts existing multibeam sonar data into digital maps that capture the contours and detailed composition of seafloors. Traditional trawling practices of blindly dragging gear over large swathes of seafloor destroyed not only aquatic habitats but also expensive equipment. By discerning different surface textures such as sand or rocky outcrops, the software enables users to predict where different species are likely to be found. In turn, fishing fleets can efficiently target known habitats – scallops for instance favour gravel beds, while lobsters prefer rocks – and sharply reduce operating costs and the area of seafloor trawled.

As a result of the new technology, a previously inaccessible fishery was opened off Nova Scotia in 2001, adding $29 million to the economy in the first five years. Reducing trawling by as much as 75 per cent, multibeam imaging is a powerful tool for conservation and seafloor management.