Seabirds, Fisheries, and Climate Change in the Bay of Fundy

One of the biggest challenges of understanding the marine environment is that most species spend virtually all of their time underwater where they are difficult to count and monitor. Seabirds, as a top marine predator that feed on small forage fish, many of which are important to fisheries (e.g., herring), provide an alternative to underwater sampling, as they live above the water and generally nest in colonies where they are relatively easily counted and monitored. The goal of our project is to understand the relationships between key aspects of seabird nesting biology (e.g., reproductive success, prey fed to chicks), climate, and fisheries data so that seabird data can be used as an effective indicator of marine ecosystem health and fisheries recruitment.

Faculty Supervisor:

Heather Major;Antony Diamond

Student:

Partner:

Oceans North

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Other services (except public administration); Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

University of New Brunswick

Program: