Working Group on Fisheries Acoustics, Science and Technology

http://www.ices.dk/community/groups/Pages/WGFAST.aspx

Contents

This repository hosts code and documents associated with the FAST working group.

It also previously contained the source documents for two conventions developed by WGFAST, but which now reside in their own repositories:

• AcMeta: A metadata convention for processed acoustic data from active acoustic systems
• SONAR-netCDF4: The SONAR-netCDF4 convention for sonar data

This repository also contains a directory of help files on how to contribute to both conventions.

Overview

ICES Working Group on Fisheries Acoustics, Science and Technology (WGFAST) focuses on the development and application of science and technology used to observe the marine environment (i.e. acoustic and other sensors).

WGFAST holds state-of-the-art expertise in advanced acoustic-trawl survey techniques, and employs these techniques on a wide range of platforms including research vessels, ships of opportunity, and observatories.

The working group was created in 1984 following a recommendation from the ICES Fish Capture Committee in 1982. It has been a key group internationally in developing acoustic trawl surveys, and throughout its lifetime the focus has shifted from solving the technical challenges of reliable acoustic measurements to the use of acoustics to observe key biological parameters such as biomass indices, behavioural metrics, and acoustic species classification. The group has recently expanded its core activities to include the use of acoustics to study marine ecosystems on a wide range of observation platforms.

At approximately 5-7 year intervals, WGFAST organizes a symposium to facilitate information exchange among fisheries acousticians, physicists, engineers, biologists, and ecologists. Eight previous symposia have been held:

• 1973 and 1982 Bergen, Norway
• 1987 Seattle, USA
• 1995 Aberdeen, Scotland
• 2002 Montpellier, France
• 2008 Bergen, Norway
• 2015 Nantes, France
• 2023 Portland, Maine, USA

The published proceedings from these conferences reflect the historical development from acoustic-trawl surveys to addressing broader interests in applied aquatic observation systems.

In addition to these symposia, WGFAST has met yearly since 1984: