Significant declines in Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) populations across their range have prompted an increased use of hatchery supplementation programmes to support population recovery. However, concerns persist regarding the effectiveness of these programmes due to limited understanding of how hatchery‐reared salmon perform post‐release in natural river systems compared to their wild counterparts. This study examined survi...

Knowledge of the timing and diversity of fish movements within a commercially exploited stock complex is required to ensure the sustainability of fisheries. Although migration can be driven by environmental factors, genomic mechanisms also play an important role in this complex life‐history trait. The northern cod ( Gadus morhua ) stock complex, off the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, once supported the largest fishery in...

Successful area-based ocean management relies on long-term, persistent biological monitoring using reliable ocean observation assets. Underwater electric gliders fill a unique monitoring niche compared to other platforms because they can autonomously survey across diverse environments—from shallow coastal waters to remote offshore areas—for weeks to months at a time. Gliders equipped with passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) devi...

Critical gaps exist in the ocean science community’s biological observation capabilities (e.g., Canonico, 2024; Hassoun et al., 2024). Defining exactly what to monitor and how to obtain the necessary resources to do so are subjects of ongoing debates.

The freshwater phase of the first seaward migration of juvenile Atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ) is relatively well understood when compared with our understanding of the marine phase of their migration. In 2021, 1008 wild and 60 ranched Atlantic salmon smolts were tagged with acoustic transmitters in 12 rivers in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Large marine receiver arrays were deployed in the Irish Sea at two...

While populations of other migratory salmonids suffer in the Anthropocene, pink salmon ( Oncorhynchus gorbusca Salmonidae) are thriving, and their distribution is expanding both within their natural range and in the Atlantic and Arctic following introduction of the species to the White Sea in the 1950s. Pink salmon are now rapidly spreading in Europe and even across the ocean to North America. Large numbers of pink salmon bree...

Marine animals equipped with biological and physical electronic sensors have produced long-term data streams on key marine environmental variables, hydrography, animal behavior and ecology. These data are an essential component of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). The Animal Borne Ocean Sensors (AniBOS) network aims to coordinate the long-term collection and delivery of marine data streams, providing a complementary ca...

Data from the Integrated Tracking of Aquatic Animals in the Gulf of Mexico (iTAG) network, and sister networks, were used to evaluate fish movements in the Florida Keys—an extensive reef fish ecosystem just north of Cuba connecting the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. We analysed ~2 million detections for 23 species, ranging from reef fish such as Nassau grouper ( Epinephelus striatus , Serranidae) to migratory apex predator...

Ethics are becoming a component of best practices in ocean science and observing systems, with the research community facing a duty to society to maximize the efficient use and benefits that stem from investments in ocean science/monitoring. Sustained ocean observing systems on issues of global importance are coordinated, internationally sanctioned and making the most out of the resources accorded to them and consequently fulf...

Establishment of adequate conservation areas represents a challenging but crucial task in the conservation of genetic diversity and biological variability. Anthropogenic pressures on marine ecosystems and organisms are steadily increasing. Whether and to what extent these pressures influence marine genetic biodiversity is only starting to be revealed. Using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing, we analysed the microbial community...