The FACT Network: Philosophy, Evolution, and Management of a Collaborative Coastal Tracking Network

Abstract

The FACT Network (originally the Florida Atlantic Coast Telemetry working group), established in 2007, is a grassroots collaboration that is dedicated to improving the conservation and management of aquatic animals by facilitating data sharing amongst researchers using acoustic telemetry technology, providing a community for scientists, and building stakeholder partnerships. Founded along the eastern Florida coastline, FACT quickly grew in both membership and geographical range to include 93 partner groups along a large portion of the southern U.S. Atlantic seaboard and western Caribbean. This rapid expansion was facilitated by adapting FACT's policies and procedures to meet the growing needs of its members, including implementing an online data sharing system capable of exchanging information with other compatible systems designed by the Ocean Tracking Network (OTN). Less than 13 months from its inception, the FACT database housed 129.5 million detections and metadata for 5,979 tags from 101 projects (85 FACT projects and 16 OTN-based projects). Twice-yearly meetings allow FACT members to interact, building relationships between individuals, which in turn promotes collaboration and data sharing. The success of FACT is attributable to a combination of biogeographical factors; partnerships with the Animal Tracking Network, OTN, and Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association; and active membership. In a survey of FACT members, data management services and belonging to a community ranked highest as reasons for joining the network. Future success of the FACT Network will depend on how effectively it can adapt to changing needs and conditions in the scientific landscape. In this paper, we describe the origins, philosophy, and management approach of the FACT Network, with the hope that this information can provide insights into the benefits (and limitations) of future acoustic tracking networks in other regions.

Tropicalization of temperate ecosystems in North America: The northward range expansion of tropical organisms in response to warming winter temperatures

“…Winter movements of coastal migrants to the south (e.g., the winter run of sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus) and return trips back north (e.g., the spring run of cobia, Rachycentron canadum) have economic and cultural significance to coastal communities (Colburn et al, 2016). Large and collaborative passive acoustic telemetry networks established along the Atlantic (Young et al, 2020) and Gulf of Mexico (Lowerre- Barbieri et al, 2019) coasts are allowing the timing and geographic extent of coastal migrations to be better quantified for many managed sharks, rays, and sport fish. The migrations of a representative coastal migrant, lemon shark (Negaprion brevirostris), were found to vary by ~200 km depending on the severity of winter (Reyier et al, 2014).…”

Networked Animal Telemetry in the Northwest Atlantic and Caribbean Waters

“…The FACT Network is a grassroots collaboration among scientists using acoustic telemetry to study the movements, ecology, and life history of aquatic animals (Young et al 2020, this themed issue). The FACT Network was founded in 2007 by seven partner groups on the east coast of Florida in an effort to increase spatial coverage of individual studies by sharing tag and detection data and to provide a platform for communication among members.…”

“…The reduction of these concerns has encouraged participation in the network. As important as data services is the FACT Network’s sense of community, which promotes collaborative partnerships between or among members, improves communication, increases the exchange of ideas, and supports scientists and students who are new to acoustic telemetry technology (Young et al 2020).…”

Seasonal Presence of Atlantic Sturgeon and Sharks at Cape Hatteras, a Large Continental Shelf Constriction to Coastal Migration

“…The use of acoustic receiver gates and arrays to study the migration patterns of marine fish moving through open-ocean habitats has become more practical with the development of regional and international data sharing networks, such as the Ocean Tracking Network (O'Dor and Stokesbury 2009), the Atlantic Cooperative Telemetry (ACT) Network (http://theactnetwork.com/; Fox et al 2009;Young et al 2020, this themed issue), regional integrated ocean observing systems (e.g., Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System), and the Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Project (Jackson 2011). In addition, acoustic arrays have been deployed to study localized movement patterns and may be useful in assessing community-level responses to anthropogenic activities (Boehlert and Gill 2010;Wyman et al 2018).…”

“…; Young et al. , this themed issue), regional integrated ocean observing systems (e.g., Gulf of Maine Ocean Observing System), and the Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Project (Jackson ). In addition, acoustic arrays have been deployed to study localized movement patterns and may be useful in assessing community‐level responses to anthropogenic activities (Boehlert and Gill ; Wyman et al.…”