A decade of acoustic telemetry in a Marine Protected Area reveals multispecies connectivity throughout the Northwest Atlantic

In the Northwest Atlantic, acoustic telemetry is widely used to assess aquatic species movements and habitat use within and among conservation areas. We examined the contribution of acoustic telemetry to research and monitoring in St. Anns Bank Marine Protected Area (MPA) off Cape Breton Island (Mi’kmaq: Unama’ki), Nova Scotia. Acoustic telemetry receivers have been deployed within the MPA since 2015 (26 to 46 receivers per year), with tagging of Atlantic cod, Atlantic halibut, and Atlantic striped wolffish. Through integration with the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), a dataset was assembled that included animals tagged within the MPA and animals tagged by other projects that subsequently passed through the area. This dataset directly informs biodiversity conservation objectives by documenting distinct spatial and temporal fluxes of migratory and seasonally resident species (15 species, 504 individuals). Findings demonstrated far reaching connectivity, strong affinity for a predominant shallow bathymetric feature (Scatarie Bank), and relationships with recorded bottom temperature and depth. This study demonstrates the utility of acoustic telemetry for long-term baseline monitoring of species occurrence, movement, and ecological change.