Traditional methods of answering this question include direct sampling, egg sampling, sonar survey, and aerial survey. Each has its limitations. Perhaps the most severe limitation of the surface-based techniques like sampling and sonar is that ships are slow. Only a small fraction of the possible habitat can be surveyed, and the cost is high.
Aerial surveys can cover a much larger area of the ocean, but the data are less reliable.
The system will use a pulsed lidar to profile fish density from a small aircraft . The basic technology was developed by the Department of Defense to detect other objects in the water. The data do not depend on the skill of the observer or on the conditions at the surface , and are thus of much more uniform quality. A nd R anging. In its simplest form, a short pulse of laser light is directed toward a target.