ASL Environmental Sciences is pleased to announce a new collaboration with Open Ocean Robotics, as part of the Air-Sea Ocean Monitoring System (ASOMS) project partially funded by Canada’s Ocean Supercluster. As part of this joint effort, ASL’s Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler (AZFP) has been integrated into Open Ocean Robotics’ solar-powered surface vehicle, the DataXplorer, to unlock new possibilities in autonomous ocean monitoring.

The AZFP is a calibrated, scientific echosounder that is often deployed on moorings, providing a multifrequency time series lasting 12 months or longer. Combining ASL's AZFP with Open Ocean Robotics' innovative uncrewed DataXplorer platform demonstrates a more efficient, environmentally friendly, and safer approach to collecting oceanographic data in diverse and remote marine environments.

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ASL is pleased to announce that it has recently completed a tidal current survey for the Kativik Government, in support of the Eastern Arctic Undersea Fibre Optic Network (EAUFON-3). ASL was delighted to work alongside Seaforth Geosurveys who led the campaign and conducted onshore and subsurface surveys, and Sulmara who collected 3D sub-bottom data using the eBOSS system.

The project is currently in its final phase to bring fast and reliable internet to all seven Ungava Bay communities, from Kangiqsujuaq to Kangiqsualujjuaq. Construction on EAUFON-3 is planned to begin in 2027, with completion in 2028. Earlier phases of EAUFON connected other Nunavik communities by laying fibre from James Bay to the Hudson Strait and replacing older satellite links.

ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. is proud to announce the appointment of Southern Tech(www.southerntech.cl/) to represent ASL’s product interest in the Republic of Chile. ASL is excited about opportunities for the AZFP-nano and AZFP-pico in Chile.

From left to right Ronald Hernández, Co-founder of Southern Tech; Jan Buermans, President and CEO of ASL Environmental Sciences; and Nicolás Mayorgas, M.Sc., Co-founder of Southern Tech. The picture was taken at the Latin American Physics of Estuaries and Coastal Oceans (LAPECO) Nov 25-28, 2025 conference in Puerto Varas, Chile where both companies were showcasing their products.

ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. (ASL) recently signed a contribution agreement with the Canadian Space Agency for a 2-year project under the Satellite Mobilization for Biodiversity Action (SaMBA) opportunity, part of the smartEarth funding initiative.

Habitat loss is the top threat to biodiversity, accounting for endangerment of over 80% of all species. Pacific salmon are a keystone species closely linked to the functional integrity and biodiversity of many aquatic and riparian ecosystems in western North America.

On September 29, a team of researchers from the Universidad del Bío-Bío set out on an oceanographic expedition to the Bío-Bío Canyon, one of the largest submarine canyons along the Chilean coast. The canyon is located in the Gulf of Arauco, an area that is ecologically rich and vital for local fisheries and industry.

Since 2023, Dr. Macarena Díaz-Astudillo and a group of colleagues have been studying how this canyon shapes local oceanography and zooplankton communities. Recently, Dr. Díaz-Astudillo, a postdoctoral researcher at Universidad del Bío-Bío and COPAS Coastal center, won an award from ASL Environmental Sciences to add an AZFP-nano to the project.

ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. is proud to announce a new strategic marketing and distribution partnership with Sofar Ocean, bringing innovative oceanographic solutions to Canada and Alaska. This collaboration strengthens ASL’s position as a trusted supplier of advanced ocean monitoring technologies while enhancing Sofar’s reach in northern markets.

At the center of this partnership is the Sofar Spotter Platform a compact, solar-powered metocean buoy that delivers real-time data on waves, winds, sea surface temperature, barometric pressure, and more. Rugged yet portable, the Spotter Buoy connects researchers and operators to their data 24/7 via satellite or cellular networks, with intuitive access through the Spotter dashboard and API. ASL currently offers several Spotter Buoys in its lease pool and provides customized mooring solutions to integrate these buoys into site-specific coastal and offshore studies.

ASL Environmental Sciences is pleased to announce a new collaboration with Open Ocean Robotics, as part of the Air-Sea Ocean Monitoring System (ASOMS) project partially funded by Canada’s Ocean Supercluster. As part of this joint effort, ASL’s Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler (AZFP) is being integrated into Open Ocean Robotics’ solar-powered surface vehicles to explore new possibilities in autonomous ocean monitoring.

The AZFP is a calibrated, scientific echosounder that is often deployed on moorings, providing a multifrequency time series lasting 12 months or longer. Combining ASL's AZFP with Open Ocean Robotics' innovative uncrewed platforms demonstrates a more efficient, environmentally friendly, and safer approach to collecting oceanographic data in diverse and remote marine environments.

ASL Environmental Sciences is proud to announce our new wide area satellite monitoring service called DeCAF, for Detection and Classification of Anomalous Features. DeCAF is a turnkey wide area monitoring service based on detecting and classifying changes in satellite imagery.

As a company, we aim to provide scientists and resource managers with accessible, low-cost, and effective tools for studying marine ecosystems. Through collaborations with clients and researchers, we’re often introduced to emerging technologies that support these goals. Recently, we partnered with SOFAR Ocean and the Bristlemouth initiative to develop a real-time echosounder smart mooring—our first demonstration of satellite-transmitted, condensed AZFP data. Built using the Bristlemouth protocol for rapid underwater data and power transmission, the system is designed to be scalable.

ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. is proud to announce Dr. Macarena Díaz-Astudillo as the recipient of the 2025 Early Career Scientist Award. Dr. Díaz-Astudillo’s innovative research proposal titled “Understanding the drivers of zooplankton layers and aggregations over two contrasting submarine canyons” was selected based on her well-organized research objectives, her previous knowledge and experience of using hydroacoustics and her careful considerations to carry out both the field and analytical elements of this study.

ASL’s Biological Oceanographer, Dr. Julek Chawarski, recently joined the University of British Columbia’s PRODIGY (Pacific Rim Ocean Data Mobilization and Technology) field school in Chilean Patagonia, supporting coastal oceanography and emerging technologies. Held at the San Ignacio del Huinay Foundation field station in Comau Fjord, the program brought together Canadian and Chilean graduate students to explore remote fjord ecosystems.

The trip began in Puerto Montt at the University of Los Lagos, where students learned about hyperspectral remote sensing with drones to detect harmful algae blooms. The group then traveled to Comau Fjord region to assemble oceanographic instruments and attend lectures on mooring design. Students gained hands-on experience with ASL’s AZFP-nano, a compact echosounder designed for use with CTD profilers, while Dr. Chawarski guided them.

ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. is proud to announce the successful completion of an initial multi-week study to measure tidal currents in collaboration with the Nunatsiavut Government and Oceans North. This initiative aligns with the Nunatsiavut Energy Security Plan to explore clean, renewable energy solutions for coastal communities and reduce dependence on diesel-generated electricity.

ASL invites applications for the 2025 Early Career Scientist Award to win the use of the new AZFP-nano autonomous acoustic profiler for three months. The goal of this program is to support early career trainees in the oceanographic and limnological research community by lending, free of charge, a calibrated battery-powered Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler™ (AZFP™)-nano with a 200 kHz single beam transducer for a three-month period along with the technical and analytical support from ASL’s team of experts. This instrument loan program is open to early career scientists and engineers, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and others involved in aquatic research.

ASL is proud to announce the Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler (AZFP)-nano to its family of advanced acoustic instruments for aquatic environments. This compact, lightweight, single frequency scientific echosounder is a miniaturized version of the AZFP and is well-suited for applications in challenging environments where size and weight are important considerations. This advanced profiler was developed to measure a wide range of physical and biological parameters including, zooplankton, fish, algae, bubbles and suspended sediments within the water column. The AZFP-nano has useful applications for fisheries sciences, oceanography and environmental monitoring and due to its compact design, the AZFP-nano can easily fit on AUVs, CTD rosette sampler and other instrument packages.