MATOS - Mid-Atlantic Acoustic Telemetry Observation System

Project Title: Acoustic telemetry and autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs): Mapping habitat use of summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) in a salt marsh subtidal creek

MATOS Project Code: LSHSF

Data Type: Data

Project Duration: May 2025 - December 2026

Project Description: Summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) is an economically valuable finfish that supports important commercial and recreational fisheries in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Tidal creeks are known to serve as important nursey areas for age-0 summer flounder, however fine scale habitat use and annual residency of sexually mature fish is not clear. 18 acoustic receivers gate fish passage at each New Jersey estuarine inlet, and 13 receivers are deployed seasonally within the Great Bay - Little Egg Harbor estuary . 6 additional Innovasea NexTrak R1 69 kHz acoustic receivers will be deployed in Little Sheepshead Creek from 2025-2026 to gate entry and exit on both sides, track fine scale fish movement, and quantify residency time in the creek. 25 summer flounder will be tagged in Little Sheepshead Creek with V9-2x acoustic transmitters using both internal and exernal tagging methods. Benthic habitat will be mapped using a a SeaRobotics SR-Surveyor M1.8 autonomous surface vehicle (ASV).

Objectives:

Quantify creek residency, and the physical and biotic drivors of creek emmigration and immigration.
Map the benthic profile of Little Sheepshead Creek using side scan and bathymetric imaging.
Sample the distribution and seasonal habitat use of summer flounder in Little Sheepshead Creek.

Principal Investigator:	Chase Wunder (Mid - Atlantic Acoustic Telemetry Observation System)
Email:	chase.wunder@rutgers.edu

Point of Contact:	Chase Wunder
Email:	chase.wunder@rutgers.edu

Participating Organizations:

Monmouth University
Jacques Cousteau National Estuarine Research Reserve
Ocean Tracking Network
Rutgers University

Funding:

NOAA Office of Coastal Management
Ocean Tracking Network

External URL: https://jcnerr.org/

RUMFS NERRS LSH Summer Flounder