Welcome to the ACT Network
A grassroots effort to facilitate datasharing between researchers utilizing acoustic telemetry to gain a greater understanding of a wide variety of aquatic species.
ACT began to take shape in 2005 during an Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission – Atlantic Sturgeon Technical Committee Meeting. As researchers began utilizing acoustic telemetry technology more extensively along the eastern coast of the United States, the potential benefits of collaborating in order to share telemetry data from existing arrays beyond those in their own system became apparent. What started with 15 researchers working on Atlantic and Shortnose Sturgeon that year has expanded to over 138 from Maine to Florida working with over 95 different species. We are also collaborating with researchers from the Canadian Maritimes (Ocean Tracking Network) as well as FACT, iTAG, MIGRAMAR and other telemetry networks around the globe. To date, there are over 18,600 known transmitters deployed since 2004, with more being deployed annually.
Researchers maintain their own arrays, so transmitters deployed and array sizes are dependent on seasonal conditions, research needs, and available funding. It is up to the individual researchers to provide information regarding transmitters and arrays. Researches can maintain a level of involvement in the network that is appropriate for their needs and abilities; from just sharing general tag code information to collaborating with other researcher and leveraging other arrays to gain additional funding.
We hope to make exchanging information about “unknown” transmitter codes simpler and more straightforward, further strengthen collaboration. One of the main challenges ACT faces as we continue to expand is developing and maintaining standards in data collecting and sharing, so as we grow, we will be able to incorporate our telemetry data with other physical/environmental information systems, further enhancing potentials. In order for the ACT Network to continue to grow and develop, it is key that all researchers communicate with each other and that scientific integrity is maintained when searching and utilizing information provided through the ACT Network. Information should only be utilized with permission from the owners of the transmitters.
