Passive Acoustics as a Tool in Fisheries Science

Abstract

Abstract.-Many fishery biologists that are interested in documenting fish habitat and following the movements and behavior of fishes use acoustic tags. Because over 700 fish species naturally produce lowfrequency, species-specific sounds, these can be used as natural acoustic tags. Passive acoustic approaches (monitoring sound-producing fishes with hydrophones) show great promise for gathering data in a noninvasive and continuous manner. In this special section, authors review past studies and contribute new findings based on the concept of passive acoustics, in which the sounds produced by fish are used to identify the species present and quantify their relative abundance. Fish have long been known to produce lowfrequency sounds, especially members of the families Sciaenidae, Gadidae, Ictaluridae, Cyprinidae, Batrachoididae, Haemulidae, Lutjanidae, and Serranidae. Passive acoustic methods include the use of lowfrequency hydrophones, digital recorders, autonomous recording sonobuoys and data loggers, and towed hydrophone arrays to record fish sounds. The sounds of fishes that have been recorded so far have been described in monographs, scientific papers, and online digital libraries; in most cases, the recordings are species specific and can be used to identify fish. Work is progressing in using the passive acoustic approach along with traditional fisheries sampling methods (net and active acoustic surveys) to identify habitat use, spawning areas, and relative abundances. The authors in this special section present new passive acousticsderived data on sciaenids, batrachoidids, and ictalurids. They outline the methods currently being used and discuss their limitations, provide examples where passive acoustics has been employed successfully, warn of pitfalls in interpreting acoustic data, and lay the groundwork for future studies.

Description and seasonal detection of two potential whale calls recorded in the Indian Ocean

“…In particular, passive acoustic monitoring (PAM), where sounds from the surrounding environment are simply recorded, is an unintrusive technique and has been used to study a wide range of animals, including species of fish, marine mammals, birds, primates, insects, and amphibians (e.g., Luczkovich et al, 2008;Celis-Murillo et al, 2009;Hu et al, 2009;Burton and Nietsch, 2010;Puissant and Sueur, 2010;Van Opzeeland et al, 2010). PAM has the potential to overcome some of the limitations of visual surveys, provided that the species of interest makes a sound that can be used as a cue to indicate that an individual is present.…”

Management and research applications of real-time and archival passive acoustic sensors over varying temporal and spatial scales

“…The tools that are available to acquire and analyze passive acoustic data have undergone a revolutionary change over the last decade, and have substantially increased our ability to collect acoustic information and use it as a functional management tool. Recent reviews of the passive acoustic technologies currently available concentrate both on cetaceans (Mellinger et al 2007), pinnipeds (Van Opzeeland et al 2008) and fish (Gannon 2008, Luczkovich et al 2008). The present study focuses on the value of using bottom-mounted buoys, towed arrays and real-time acoustic sensors for both scientific and management applications with respect to acoustically active marine animals over a wide range of spatial scales.…”

Sound production as an indicator of red hind density at a spawning aggregation

“…Passive acoustics is a novel and efficient tool that can be used to study and monitor soniferous fish behavior and habitat use and to collect long-term datasets that would be difficult to acquire with traditional methods (Myrberg 1997, Luczkovich & Sprague 2002, Rountree et al 2006, Luczkovich et al 2008a. Sound production in a number of species is known to be associated with courtship, territoriality, or reproduction, warranting the use of passive acoustics to locate spawning aggregations (Luczkovich et al 1999, 2008b, Walters et al 2009, Rowell et al 2011) and determine temporal spawning behavior and habitat use by different species , 2010, Nelson et al 2011, Schärer et al 2012.…”