Canadian scientists are back at sea this spring monitoring ocean climate conditions on the East Coast thanks to a data- and ship-sharing agreement between the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts.

The collaboration will enable ship-challenged Canada to carry out the first spring survey of its Atlantic zone monitoring program in three years.

The twice-yearly missions measure biological, chemical and physical conditions from the Gulf of Maine to the Labrador Sea — information that tracks climate change in the ocean and helps manage fish stocks worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

The ship, the money, the deal