Passive Acoustic Techniques in Fisheries Science: A Review and Prospectus

Abstract

An extremely wide variety of fish taxa produce sound. Sound production behavior provides an opportunity to study various aspects of fish biology, such as spawning behavior and habitat selection, in a noninvasive manner. Passive acoustics is an active area of ichthyological research. However, fish bioacousticians have generally not published their research in the fisheries literature. Therefore, fisheries scientists may not be fully aware of progress being made in this field or of potential uses for passive acoustic techniques. In this paper, I discuss the evolutionary, physiological, and behavioral aspects of sound production by fishes; investigate the publication patterns of research on fish sound production; review the literature on the application of passive acoustic methods to fisheries research; and suggest ways of designing passive acoustic surveys to optimize the quantity and quality of information obtained. Passive acoustic methods can be an attractive alternative or supplement to traditional fisheries assessment techniques because they are noninvasive, can be conducted at low cost, and can cover a large study area at high spatial and temporal resolution. However, as in all fisheries surveys, research questions should be defined clearly at the outset and careful planning is necessary to obtain the data required to address those questions.

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 by the West Australian dhufish (Glaucosoma hebraicum)

“…Their sounds are often associated with a particular behavior, such as spawning, feeding, or disturbance (Winn, 1964;Myrberg and Spires, 1972;Fine et al, 1977;Slabbekoorn et al, 2010). As sound propagates efficiently underwater (Urick, 1983), recordings of fish calls can offer an effective means of determining natural fish behavior and provide valuable information on the location and timing of associated behavior (Gannon, 2008;, Rountree et al, 2006). Of particular note is the formation of spawning aggregations.…”

Diversity and complexity in the acoustic behaviour of Dacyllus flavicaudus (Pomacentridae)

“…Passive acoustics is becoming a tool for studying the spatial and temporal nature of many aspects of fish biology (e.g. location and timing of spawning) for fishes that actively produce advertisement calls (Fine and Thorson 2008;Gannon 2008). The second approach consisted of recording the sounds in different Dascyllus flavicaudus groups in order to discover whether there were some temporal cycles of sound production in this species.…”