Oceans Unmanned (OU), a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization provided manned aircraft and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) field operations in support of California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s (CDFW) marine California Coastal Pelagic Species Survey (CCPSS) between 1st February 2022 and 31st July 2024.
Three field deployments occurred to explore the feasibility of novel payloads and imagery techniques intended to augment the ability to accurately identify species remotely and estimate biomass of nearshore schools of Pacific sardine (sardine) and northern anchovy (anchovy). This report provides the methodology, results, and a feasibility synopsis, including recommendations for updating current survey methods and areas for future exploration.