Coastline monitoring has historically relied on research vessels with expert staff, both of which are commonly in short supply and are expensive. These factors can result in samples taken only a few times a year in spot locations.

In response to this challenge, Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) developed the Community Fishers mobile app that provides a practical, user-friendly tool for collecting data and accessing it via Oceans 3.0.

Consisting of a mobile application that connects wirelessly to a conductivity temperature depth (CTD) instrument and additional sensors, Community Fishers enables an organization or community to engage all vessels of opportunity (such as fishing and recreational boats), allowing for more flexible, frequent and locally relevant sampling of water properties without the cost or requirement of utilizing specialized research vessels and scientific staff.