CSA EXPANDS WATER-COLUMN ACOUSTIC CAPABILITY WITH ECHOVIEW SOFTWARE

CSA expands water-column acoustic capability with Echoview software. Further strengthening CSA’s applied marine science technology toolkit.

CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. (CSA), has announced an expansion of its water-column acoustic capabilities through the acquisition of a licensed installation of Echoview software, a leading scientific platform for the processing and analysis of active acoustic data.

As a global marine environmental consultancy supporting energy and coastal infrastructure projects, CSA operates scientific echosounder systems—including Kongsberg Discovery EK-series split-beam instruments—to collect calibrated water-column backscatter data during offshore surveys. These systems provide high-resolution measurements throughout the water column, enabling detection and characterization of fish aggregations, scattering layers, suspended particulates, and gas seeps.

While advanced acoustic instrumentation is increasingly deployed across offshore industries, rigorous and transparent post-processing remains essential to generating defensible scientific results. Echoview software is widely used by federal agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and by universities conducting fisheries and oceanographic research. The software supports calibration management, noise removal, multi-frequency integration, and quantitative target delineation within a reproducible analytical framework. Although standard in research settings, in-house licenses remain less common within the consulting sector.

By pairing Kongsberg EK-series echosounders with research-grade analytical software, CSA further strengthens its position at the intersection of academic methodology and applied marine consulting—ensuring that offshore clients receive transparent, quantitative, and defensible water-column assessments.

CSA’s water-column acoustic work spans baseline ecological assessments, fisheries investigations, and studies supporting emerging offshore industries. In deep-sea environments, for example, scientific echosounders are used to evaluate vertical distribution patterns of pelagic organisms, including diel vertical migration (DVM)—a fundamental ecological process in which organisms move vertically through the water column in response to light and predation pressures. Characterising DVM and midwater ecosystems is increasingly important in deep-sea mining baseline studies and environmental impact assessments, where understanding biological structure throughout the full water column is essential.

“High-quality acoustic instrumentation is only part of the equation,” said Dr. Eddie Hughes, senior marine scientist at CSA. “The ability to process calibrated backscatter data with transparency and scientific rigor is what transforms raw measurements into defensible environmental insight. Echoview allows us to apply the same analytical standards used in federal and academic research programs directly within a consulting framework—whether we are characterizing fish aggregations, evaluating water-column structure, or assessing diel vertical migration patterns in deep-sea environments.”

CSA’s investment in Echoview reflects the firm’s continued commitment to integrating advanced technology and scientific methodology in support of offshore environmental decision-making. The enhanced acoustic capability strengthens CSA’s ability to deliver high-quality, science-drive products to clients across offshore energy, marine infrastructure, and coastal management projects.

About CSA Ocean Sciences

CSA Ocean Sciences Inc. is a global marine environmental consulting firm founded in 1970. Headquartered in Stuart, Florida, the company provides multidisciplinary scientific and operational support for projects ranging from shallow coastal waters to ultra-deep ocean environments.

CSA Ocean Sciences brings more than five decades of experience in marine environmental assessments in the US and internationally, with offices in the United States, the Eastern Mediterranean, Trinidad, Suriname, Brazil, and Australia. CSA’s expertise in coastal, marine, and deep ocean surveys is built on the integration of science, operations, and an understanding of environmental data collection, management, and analysis within geospatial domains. For more information, visit: https://www.csaocean.com/