2025 Spring AZMP Hydrographic Mission

The overall aim of the spring 2025 Atlantic Zone Monitoring Program (AZMP) hydrographic mission led by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) is to collect physical, optical, chemical, and biological oceanographic observations on the Scotian Shelf and in Gulf of Maine during the spring season. The AZMP was initiated in 1998 with the aim to detect, track, and predict changes in the state and productivity of waters across the northwest Atlantic. Data describing physical hydrographic conditions (e.g., temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen conditions), phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance and biomass, nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations, and ocean acidification (e.g., pH and alkalinity) will be collected during the mission and used to evaluate seasonal, inter-annual, and decadal variability in oceanographic conditions in the region. The data and samples collected during this mission will also be used to support a number ancillary research programs and initiatives led by both DFO staff and external partners.