Laboratory experiments demonstrate that bubble curtains can effectively inhibit movement of common carp

Abstract Although bubble curtains have been proposed many times as practical and inexpensive solutions to hinder the movement of invasive fish, few studies have examined why or how they might work. By understanding how bubble curtains influence fish behavior, management tools could be developed to control movement of invasive fish. In this study, the common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) was used to examine the performance of three different bubble curtains (fine-, graded-, and coarse-bubble) and acoustically enhanced systems in an indoor channel. Trials revealed that the graded- and coarse-bubble systems reduced common carp passage across the curtain by 75–85% in both up- and down-stream directions. Concurrent acoustic field measurements revealed that these bubble curtains generated sound near 200 Hz at approximately 130 dB (ref 1 μPa), well above the common carp hearing threshold. Further testing with speaker arrays and lighting indicated that carp avoidance of the bubble curtain involved responses to sound and fluid motion rather than visual cues. Although field tests are warranted, our results suggest that bubble curtains may be a viable and inexpensive deterrence system to limit common carp movement.

[1]  A. Popper.  Pure‐Tone Auditory Thresholds for the Carp, Cyprinis carpio , 1972 .

[2]  J. Chick,et al.  In-situ tests of sound-bubble-strobe light barrier technologies to prevent range expansions of Asian carp , 2012 .

[3]  Richard R. Fay,et al.  Rethinking sound detection by fishes , 2011, Hearing Research.

[4]  J. R. Brett,et al.  Preliminary Experiments Using Lights and Bubbles to Deflect Migrating Young Spring Salmon , 1953 .

[5]  Joseph J. Cech,et al.  The roles of vision and the lateral-line system in Sacramento splittail’s fish-screen avoidance behaviors: Evaluating vibrating screens as potential fish deterrents , 2012, Environmental Biology of Fishes.

[6]  J. S. Welton,et al.  The efficacy of air, sound and acoustic bubble screens in deflecting Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L., smolts in the River Frome, UK , 2002 .

[7]  John C. Montgomery,et al.  Bioacoustics and the Lateral Line System of Fishes , 2008 .

[8]  Eric Lamarre,et al.  Void-fraction measurements and sound-speed fields in bubble plumes generated by breaking waves , 1994 .

[9]  D. Michaud,et al.  Recent evaluations of physical and behavioral barriers for reducing fish entrainment at hydroelectric plants in the upper Midwest , 2000 .

[10]  A. Nikolovska,et al.  Anisotropy in the sound field generated by a bubble chain , 2004 .

[11]  S. McIninch,et al.  Effects of turbidity on estuarine fish response to strobe lights , 1987 .

[12]  M. Brown,et al.  Effects of Common Carp on Aquatic Ecosystems 80 Years after “Carp as a Dominant”: Ecological Insights for Fisheries Management , 2009 .

[13]  R. Lloyd.  Sewage effluents and their effects on fisheries , 1964 .

[14]  C. Suski,et al.  Non-physical barriers to deter fish movements , 2012 .

[15]  J. R. Burau,et al.  USING A NON‐PHYSICAL BEHAVIOURAL BARRIER TO ALTER MIGRATION ROUTING OF JUVENILE CHINOOK SALMON IN THE SACRAMENTO–SAN JOAQUIN RIVER DELTA , 2014 .

[16]  J. Chick,et al.  Response of bighead carp to a bioacoustic behavioural fish guidance system , 2005 .

[17]  F. Huntingford,et al.  Coping strategies in a strongly schooling fish, the common carp Cyprinus carpio. , 2010, Journal of fish biology.

[18]  Use of Electric or Bubble Barriers to Limit the Movement of Eurasian Ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus) , 2006 .

[19]  P. Stewart.  An Investigation into the Reactions of Fish to Electrified Barriers , 1981 .

[20]  W. J. Conover,et al.  Practical Nonparametric Statistics , 1972 .

[21]  Andrea Prosperetti,et al.  Sound emissions by a laboratory bubble cloud , 1994 .

[22]  Christian Skov,et al.  Evaluation of PIT-tagging in cyprinids , 2005 .

[23]  T. A. Sprott.  The National Shipbuilding Research Program. Preliminary Report on the Field Testing of an Air-Curtain Screen to Minimize Fish Passage onto Submerged Floating Drydocks , 2001 .

[24]  A G Hallett,et al.  History of and Advances in Barriers as an Alternative Method to Suppress Sea Lampreys in the Great Lakes , 2003 .

[25]  E. P Taft,et al.  Fish protection technologies: a status report , 2000 .

[26]  Przemyslaw G. Bajer,et al.  Recruitment and abundance of an invasive fish, the common carp, is driven by its propensity to invade and reproduce in basins that experience winter-time hypoxia in interconnected lakes , 2009, Biological Invasions.

[27]  T. Akamatsu,et al.  Empirical refinements applicable to the recording of fish sounds in small tanks. , 2002, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[28]  I. Brevik,et al.  The flow in and around air-bubble plumes , 2002 .

[29]  Robert J. Urick,et al.  Principles of underwater sound , 1975 .

[30]  J. R. Stauffer,et al.  Estuarine fish responses to strobe light, bubble curtains and strobe light/bubble-curtain combinations as influenced by water flow rate and flash frequencies , 1987 .

[31]  J. R. Stauffer,et al.  Responses of fish to a strobe light/ air-bubble barrier , 1985 .

[32]  Paul H. Muessig,et al.  Evaluation of an air bubbler to mitigate fish impingement at an electric generating plant , 1978 .

[33]  P. Sorensen,et al.  Common carp and goldfish discern conspecific identity using chemical cues , 2008 .

[34]  A. Mensinger,et al.  Acoustical conditioning and retention in the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) , 2013 .

[35]  T. Leighton,et al.  An experimental study of the sound emitted from gas bubbles in a liquid , 1987 .

[36]  J. N. Lin,et al.  Role of Interfacial Tension in the Formation and the Detachment of Air Bubbles. 1. A Single Hole on a Horizontal Plane Immersed in Water , 1994 .

[37]  Thomas J. Carlson,et al.  Application of Sound and other Stimuli to Control Fish Behavior , 1998 .

[38]  C. Rehmann,et al.  Dissipation of Turbulent Kinetic Energy near a Bubble Plume , 2004 .

[39]  R. Bainbridge.  The problem of excluding fish from water intakes , 1964 .

[40]  T. Leighton.  The Acoustic Bubble , 1994 .