Application of Sound and other Stimuli to Control Fish Behavior

Abstract

This paper reviews the application of several sensory signals for their possible use in the control and modification of fish behavior but emphasizes the use of sound. Basic principles of underwater acoustics are introduced, followed by an overview of the structures and function of the fish ear and lateral line. Sounds in the sonic, infrasonic, and ultrasonic ranges are potentially useful for controlling fish behavior. However, most experiments testing the usefulness of such sounds have given ambiguous results except when ultrasound has been used to control some clupeid species. Very little is known about the potential usefulness of chemical and electric signals (other than electric shocks) for behavioral control. A substantial literature on the use of light to attract or repel fish offers encouraging possibilities for this control medium in some circumstances. We conclude that too little is actually known about the suitability of various signals for control of fish behavior. Many variables, such as time of day and age of the fish, affect the effectiveness even of signals that seem to ''work.'' These variables can influence the success or failure of a technique and need to be considered in the evaluation of any stimulus considered for the control fish behavior. Moreover, it is increasingly apparent that flow field has a powerful effect on the local success of one stimulus or another. We suggest that sound and light be further explored for control of fish behavior, particularly in combination. This work cannot be done with only field studies or only laboratory studies or by only applied biologists or only basic scientists; all methods and expertise are needed. Finally, no behavioral control method will work unless the behavior of the subject species is thoroughly understood in each place of application. environments have been explored, including the use of sound, light, electrical stimuli, and water flow. Of these signals, sound has received the most attention as a behavioral modifier. Sound has the advantage over other stimuli of being rapidly transmitted over long distances and of being unaffected by water turbidity or time of day.This paper provides a detailed discussion of sound as a potential tool for the control of fish

Fish navigation of large dams emerges from their modulation of flow field experience

“…In the real world, fish swimming works in context with many factors, including light and vision (16,24,30), sound (16), social interactions (49), feeding, predators, water quality, chemical cues, fish size and age, and hydraulics at scales smaller than considered here. Differences between modeled and actual environments could have implications on what we infer about fish behavior (50); however, at minimum, our study suggests that abstractions of the real world from hydraulic and behavioral modeling may inform how engineered features function with the cue responses that fish have naturally evolved.…”

“…Monitoring all environmental and internal factors (16)(17)(18)(19) that could contribute to fish movement in a large open system is not possible, so the following assumptions underlie our analysis. First, although fish migration between habitats involves many factors (e.g., physiological, life cycle, feeding), over the temporal and spatial scales it takes a fish to transit a dam environment, we assume movement is hydraulically mediated.…”

Effects of Ultrasonic Frequencies on Schooling Behavior of American Shad (Alosa sapidissima)

“…Sound is most often defined as a disturbance of density that propagates within a medium, e.g., water [5]. The properties of sound include both frequency and power levels.…”

Behavioral Responses to Underwater Sound in the Small Benthic Octopus Octopus ocellatus

“…There have been various attempts to control and modify fish behavior by emitting sound 1) . In fisheries, sound has been applied to drive fishes into nets, and attracting fishes using sound has been tried [2][3][4] .…”

“…Moreover, the strong ability of associate learning in fish allows conditioning procedures to be applied for fish aggregations using sound in aquaculture 10). The sense organs and central nervous systems of cephalopods are developed equivalently to those of fishes 11)12) , so it is possible that cephalopod behavior can be modified and controlled by artificially emitted stimuli in the same way as in fish 1) . Light has been successfully applied to increase squid catches in commercial fisheries, but the control and modification of cephalopod behavior by sound has received little attention.…”