Tagging of aquatic animals is used to reveal movement patterns, home range, habitat preferences, gender differences, distribution patterns, etc. and represents a methodology that has been employed for many years. With previous NSF funding the PI developed a miniaturized RAFOS receiver on a microchip designed to study the movements of (small) fishes such as salmon, flounder and Atlantic cod. The prototype was completed. This proposal requests funding to complete the fish-tag assembly (the design work for which is done), and build 100 plus devices for a field test tracking yellowtail flounder in the Nantucket Lightship Protected Area. They plan to improve the performance of the signal detection system by improving the time keeping by correcting for the temperature dependence of the crystal oscillator and lengthen the signal correlator to improve the signal detection capability at extended distances.
Broader Impacts:
The Broader Impacts were excellent, stemming primarily from the potential application arising from the miniaturization. The long-term impact is likely to be much more general than fish tagging. Oceanographers can use fish as sensor platforms and ecologist can use information about migration and the physical environment to enhance understanding of fish migration. The new technology may thus become important for interdisciplinary research and stimulate scientific cooperation among fields. This is fundamental for understanding and quantification of biophysical interactions which is a prerequisite for ecosystem understanding and modeling.
