Influence of sea-bottom temperature and depth on swept area estimation from trawl surveys

Abstract

Summary:The methodological approach to data collection and analysis in Mediterranean bottom trawl surveys has changed considerably since their beginnings in the mid-1980s. The introduction of new technologies in surveys greatly improved knowledge on trawl underwater geometry, but also raised a question on the reliability of the data obtained. The most commonly used trawl monitoring systems in the Mediterranean use the constant speed of sound when calculating horizontal distance from one sensor to another. However, the speed of the sound in seawater is not constant because it depends on water temperature, pressure, and salinity. This is known to affect the performance of the horizontally transmitting sonars, and it is reasonable to assume that unless it is properly compensated for, the readings from trawl monitoring systems can be incorrect, resulting in biased swept area estimates, and hence potentially producing bias in abundance estimates. In the knowledge that speed of sound depends on temperature, salinity and pressure, the Del Grosso (1974) equation was used to calculate the compensation coefficient for a series of theoretical depth and temperature data. A simple model is proposed in the current paper for the manual correction of the horizontal net opening and swept area estimates. Temperature and depth data obtained from the MEDATLAS project are used to show seasonal and spatial variation in the near-bottom speed of sound, and the results demonstrate that, unless compensated for properly, the error in the horizontal net spread ranges from -1.5% to 2.9%.Keywords: swept area; bottom trawl survey; net opening; Mediterranean Sea.Influencia de la temperatura del fondo del mar y profundidad en la estimación del área de barrido en sistemas de arrastre Resumen: El enfoque metodológico para la recopilación de datos y análisis en estudios de arrastre de fondo del Mediterráneo ha cambiado considerablemente desde sus inicios en los años ochenta. La introducción de nuevas tecnologías en los estudios ha mejorado enormemente el conocimiento de la geometría de los artes de pesca de debajo del agua, pero, al mismo tiempo, surge la pregunta de la fiabilidad de los datos obtenidos. Los sistemas de seguimiento más comúnmente utilizados en los artes en el Mediterráneo usan la velocidad constante del sonido cuando calculan la distancia horizontal de un sensor a otro. Sin embargo la velocidad del sonido en el agua marina no es constante ya que depende de la temperatura del agua, de la presión y la salinidad. Se sabe que esto afecta al rendimiento de los sonares que transmiten en horizontal, y es razonable suponer que si se compensan adecuadamente, las lecturas de los monitores de seguimiento del arte pueden ser incorrectos, dando lugar a estimaciones sesgadas del área barrida por el arte, y en consecuencia potencialmente producir sesgo en bastantes estimaciones. Conociendo que la velocidad del sonido depende de la temperatura, salinidad y presión, se ha usado la ecuación de Del Grosso (1974) para calcular el coeficiente de compe...

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