Session Coordinators: Erik Young, Trout Unlimited and Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group; and Gabe Rossi, Postdoctoral Researcher, UC Berkeley and California Trout Coastal River Ecologist, Grantham Lab
 

Emerging technologies are driving rapid change across all sectors of modern life – including ecological monitoring. Advances in artificial intelligence (AI), such as machine learning and visual recognition, are reshaping what is possible for ecological monitoring and forecasting. The emergence of environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling has allowed researchers to evaluate species distribution and relative abundance in systems where traditional monitoring approaches are intractable. This session will explore applications of machine learning, visual recognition, and eDNA to salmonid population monitoring and habitat assessment. How are these technologies improving the speed, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness of efforts to recover threatened populations; and manage recreational and commercial fisheries? What new considerations must managers address when using AI applications and eDNA? Introductions to these technologies and case studies of their application will be covered. Automatic counting and measuring of salmonids using SONAR aided by visual recognition software, visual recognition aided monitoring of out-migrating salmonids, and applications of eDNA to monitor salmonid populations and parasite ecology - these and other fascinating topics will be presented and possible future directions discussed.