Underwater acoustics for ecosystem-based management: state of the science and proposals for ecosystem indicators

Ecosystem-based management (EBM) requires more extensive information than single- species management. Active underwater acoustic methods provide a means of collecting a wealth of ecosystem information with high space-time resolution. Worldwide fisheries institutes and agencies are carrying out regular acoustic surveys covering many marine shelf ecosystems, but these data are underutilized. In addition, more and more acoustic data collected by vessels of opportunity are becoming available. To encourage their use for EBM, we provide a brief introduc- tion to acoustic and complementary data collection methods in the water column, and review cur- rent and potential contributions to monitoring population abundance and biomass, spatial distrib- utions, and predator-prey relationships. Further development of acoustics-derived indicators is needed. We review and propose indicators for assessing and monitoring zooplankton, population dynamics of fish and other nekton, and changes in diversity and food-web functioning. Acoustic methods have the potential to make a strong contribution to EBM. Evaluation of new indicators and suitable reference points in different ecosystems are the current challenges.

[1]  J. Stockwell,et al.  Using multiple gears to assess acoustic detectability and biomass of fish species in lake superior , 2007 .

[2]  M. Giannoulaki,et al.  Modelling the presence of anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus in the Aegean Sea during early summer, based on satellite environmental data , 2008, Hydrobiologia.

[3]  J. Jaffe,et al.  OASIS in the sea: measurement of the acoustic reflectivity of zooplankton with concurrent optical imaging , 1998 .

[4]  M. Cardinale,et al.  Comparison of the selectivity of three pelagic sampling trawls in a hydroacoustic survey , 1999 .

[5]  John Parslow,et al.  Biogeochemical marine ecosystem models II: the effect of physiological detail on model performance , 2004 .

[6]  Dezhang Chu,et al.  Inference of geometrical and behavioural parameters of individual fish from echo-trace-analysis , 2003 .

[7]  Markus Neteler,et al.  Remotely sensed spectral heterogeneity as a proxy of species diversity: Recent advances and open challenges , 2010, Ecol. Informatics.

[8]  Diurnal variation in acoustic intensity and target strength measurements of oceanic redfish ( Sebastes mentella ) in the Irminger Sea , 2022 .

[9]  E. Cokelet,et al.  Distribution of fish and macrozooplankton in ice-covered and open-water areas of the eastern Bering Sea , 2012 .

[10]  Roger Harris,et al.  ICES zooplankton methodology manual , 2000 .

[11]  D. Pauly,et al.  Fishing down marine food webs , 1998, Science.

[12]  S. Wright,et al.  CHEMTAX - a program for estimating class abundances from chemical markers: application to HPLC measurements of phytoplankton , 1996 .

[13]  Alex W. Herman,et al.  Design and calibration of a new optical plankton counter capable of sizing small zooplankton , 1992 .

[14]  G. Huse,et al.  The importance of predator–prey overlap: predicting North Sea cod recovery with a multispecies assessment model , 2010 .

[15]  Mathieu Doray,et al.  Joint use of echosounding, fishing and video techniques to assess the structure of fish aggregations around moored Fish Aggregating Devices in Martinique (Lesser Antilles) , 2007 .

[16]  Silent ships do not always encounter more fish (revisited): comparison of acoustic backscatter from walleye pollock recorded by a noise-reduced and a conventional research vessel in the eastern Bering Sea , 2011 .

[17]  G. Pierce,et al.  Identifying essential fish habitat for small pelagic species in Spanish Mediterranean waters , 2008, Hydrobiologia.

[18]  Terrance J. Quinn,et al.  RUMINATIONS ON THE DEVELOPMENT AND FUTURE OF POPULATION DYNAMICS MODELS IN FISHERIES , 2003 .

[19]  A. Brierley,et al.  Towards the acoustic estimation of jellyfish abundance , 2005 .

[20]  P. Utgoff,et al.  RAPID: Research on Automated Plankton Identification , 2007 .

[21]  Marie-Joëlle Rochet,et al.  Why and How Could Indicators Be Used in an Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management , 2009 .

[22]  L. Haury,et al.  Tidally generated internal wave packets in Massachusetts Bay , 1979, Nature.

[23]  Marta Coll,et al.  An ecological model of the Northern and Central Adriatic Sea: Analysis of ecosystem structure and fishing impacts , 2007 .

[24]  G. S. Kleppel,et al.  Determination of zooplankton size and distribution with multifrequency acoustic technology , 1989 .

[25]  B. Southall,et al.  Acoustics in marine ecology: innovation in technology expands the use of sound in ocean science , 2009 .

[26]  A. Madirolas,et al.  Acoustic survey of a jellyfish-dominated ecosystem (Mljet Island, Croatia) , 2008, Hydrobiologia.

[27]  S. Wanless,et al.  Spatial match-mismatch across four trophic levels of the Benguela upwelling zone during an ecosystem shift. , 2008 .

[28]  Egil Ona,et al.  Acoustic sampling and signal processing near the seabed: the deadzone revisited , 1996 .

[29]  D. Mason,et al.  Spatially‐explicit Models of Fish Growth Rate , 1992 .

[30]  N. Pettorelli,et al.  Timing and abundance as key mechanisms affecting trophic interactions in variable environments. , 2005, Ecology letters.

[31]  Bernd Würsig,et al.  Using active acoustics to compare lunar effects on predator-prey behavior in two marine mammal species , 2009 .

[32]  Alex De Robertis,et al.  Development and application of an empirical multifrequency method for backscatter classification , 2010 .

[33]  M. Giannoulaki,et al.  Assessment of the sardine (Sardina pilchardus Walbaum, 1792) fishery in the eastern Mediterranean basin (North Aegean Sea) , 2011 .

[34]  Timothy K Stanton,et al.  High-frequency acoustic scattering from turbulent oceanic microstructure: the importance of density fluctuations. , 2003, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

[35]  V. Trenkel,et al.  Which community indicators can measure the impact of fishing? A review and proposals , 2003 .

[36]  Carl Wunsch,et al.  Ocean climate change : Comparison of acoustic tomography, satellite altimetry, and modeling , 1998 .

[37]  M. Moline,et al.  Integrated measurements of acoustical and optical thin layers II: Horizontal length scales , 2010 .

[38]  G. Lawson,et al.  The importance of detectability to acoustic surveys of semi-demersal fish , 1999 .

[39]  M. Furusawa,et al.  Effective and accurate use of difference in mean volume backscattering strength to identify fish and plankton , 2002 .

[40]  Y. Shin,et al.  Exploring fish community dynamics through size dependent trophic interactions using a spatialized individual based model , 2001 .

[41]  Pierre Fréon,et al.  Some elements on vertical avoidance of fish schools to a vessel during acoustic surveys , 1992 .

[42]  D. V. Holliday.  Technology for Evaluating Marine Ecosystems in the Early Twenty-First Century , 2009 .

[43]  G. Swartzman,et al.  Relating spatial distributions of acoustically determined patches of fish and plankton: data viewing, image analysis, and spatial proximity , 1999 .

[44]  Dag Tjøstheim,et al.  When fish meet a trawling vessel : examining the behaviour of gadoids using a free-floating buoy and acoustic split-beam tracking , 2005 .

[45]  K. Clarke.  Comparisons of dominance curves , 1990 .

[46]  James N. Ianelli,et al.  A framework for ecosystem impacts assessment using an indicator approach , 2005 .

[47]  O. Godø,et al.  Effects of trawl sampling variability on precision of acoustic abundance estimates of gadoids from the Barents Sea and the Gulf of Alaska , 1998 .

[48]  J. Osborn.  Animal Groups in Three Dimensions: Analytical and digital photogrammetry , 1997 .

[49]  D. Sameoto,et al.  Convergence of Acoustic, Optical, and Net-Catch Estimates of Euphausiid Abundance: Use of Artificial Light to Reduce Net , 1993 .

[50]  Ole Arve Misund,et al.  Distribution, migration and abundance of norwegian spring spawning herring in relation to the temperature and zooplankton biomass in the Norwegian sea as recorded by coordinated surveys in spring and summer 1996 , 1998 .

[51]  R. Cowen,et al.  In situ ichthyoplankton imaging system (ISIIS): system design and preliminary results , 2008 .

[52]  HonkalehtoTaina,et al.  Using acoustic data from fishing vessels to estimate walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) abundance in the eastern Bering Sea , 2011 .

[53]  Pierre Petitgas,et al.  Indices for capturing spatial patterns and their evolution in time, with application to European hake (Merluccius merluccius) in the Bay of Biscay , 2007 .

[54]  L. Dagorn,et al.  Acoustics for ecosystem research: lessons and perspectives from a scientific programme focusing on tuna-environment relationships , 2003 .

[55]  Alexis Chaigneau,et al.  Acoustic Observation of Living Organisms Reveals the Upper Limit of the Oxygen Minimum Zone , 2010, PloS one.

[56]  M. Mcphaden,et al.  Impact of environmental forcing on the acoustic backscattering strength in the equatorial Pacific: Diurnal, lunar, intraseasonal, and interannual variability , 2010 .

[57]  J. Coetzee,et al.  Zooplankton spatial distribution along the South African coast studied by multifrequency acoustics, and its relationships with environmental parameters and anchovy distribution , 2009 .

[58]  P. Wiebe,et al.  From the Hensen net toward four-dimensional biological oceanography , 2003 .

[59]  P. Ressler,et al.  Developing a commercial-vessel-based stock assessment survey methodology for monitoring the U.S. west coast widow rockfish (Sebastes entomelas) stock , 2009 .

[60]  P. Petitgas,et al.  Consistency in the correlation of school parameters across years and stocks , 2003 .

[61]  Paul G. Fernandes,et al.  Autonomous underwater vehicles: future platforms for fisheries acoustics , 2003 .

[62]  Astrid Jarre,et al.  Trophic flows in the southern Benguela during the 1980s and 1990s , 2003 .

[63]  J. Caddy.  Marine catchment basin effects versus impacts of fisheries on semi-enclosed seas , 2000 .

[64]  Christopher D. Wilson,et al.  Silent ships do not always encounter more fish: comparison of acoustic backscatter recorded by a noise-reduced and a conventional research vessel , 2008 .

[65]  Patrick Lehodey,et al.  Bridging the gap from ocean models to population dynamics of large marine predators: A model of mid-trophic functional groups , 2010 .

[66]  A. Brierley,et al.  Attribtuion of acoustic echoes to squid in the south Atlantic , 1998 .

[67]  E. John Simmonds,et al.  Fisheries Acoustics: Theory and Practice , 2005 .

[68]  J. Paramo.  Acoustic-geostatistical assessment and habitat–abundance relations of small pelagic fish from the Colombian Caribbean , 2003 .

[69]  R. Brodeur,et al.  Feeding patterns and predation potential of scyphomedusae in a highly productive upwelling region , 2008 .

[70]  Kevin J. Gaston,et al.  Abundance–occupancy relationships , 2000 .

[71]  S. Gauthier,et al.  Acoustic estimates of mesopelagic fish: as clear as day and night? , 2009 .

[72]  Marie-Joëlle Rochet,et al.  Do changes in environmental and fishing pressures impact marine communities? An empirical assessment , 2010 .

[73]  Mark A. Moline,et al.  Integrated measurements of acoustical and optical thin layers I: Vertical scales of association , 2010 .

[74]  André E. Punt,et al.  Which ecological indicators can robustly detect effects of fishing , 2005 .

[75]  N. V. Kolodnikova,et al.  Laser remote sensing calibration of ocean color satellite data , 2006 .

[76]  V. Trenkel,et al.  Do visual transects provide true population density estimates for deepwater fish , 2004 .

[77]  Richard D. Methot,et al.  Stock Assessment: Operational Models in Support of Fisheries Management , 2009 .

[78]  M. Coll,et al.  Food-web traits of the North Aegean Sea ecosystem (Eastern Mediterranean) and comparison with other Mediterranean ecosystems , 2010 .

[79]  Jason S. Link,et al.  Marine ecosystem assessment in a fisheries management context , 2002 .

[80]  O. Nakken.  Norwegian Spring-Spawning Herring & Northeast Arctic Cod : 100 Years of Research and Management , 2008 .

[81]  Sébastien Bourguignon,et al.  Overview of recent progress in fisheries acoustics made by Ifremer with examples from the Bay of Biscay , 2009 .

[82]  B. Mesnil,et al.  Towards an ecosystem approach to fisheries management (EAFM) when trawl surveys provide the main source of information , 2009 .

[83]  Kresimir Williams,et al.  Use of stereo camera systems for assessment of rockfish abundance in untrawlable areas and for recording pollock behavior during midwater trawls , 2010 .

[84]  S. Wanless,et al.  Spatial match–mismatch in the Benguela upwelling zone: should we expect chlorophyll and sea-surface temperature to predict marine predator distributions? , 2008 .

[85]  J. Miquel,et al.  Acoustic estimation of abundance and distribution of sardine in the northwestern Mediterranean. , 1998 .

[86]  V. Quintino,et al.  Sardine potential habitat and environmental forcing off western Portugal , 2010 .

[87]  Christopher D. Wilson,et al.  Length-selective retention of walleye pollock, Theragra chalcogramma, by midwater trawls , 2011 .

[88]  James M. Sullivan,et al.  High-frequency acoustics and bio-optics in ecosystems research , 2009 .

[89]  Olav Rune Godø,et al.  Technology Answers to the Requirements Set by the Ecosystem Approach , 2009 .

[90]  J. C. Taylor,et al.  Spatial overlap and distribution of anchovies (Anchoa spp.) and copepods in a shallow stratified estuary , 2003 .

[91]  Peter H. Wiebe,et al.  3 Collecting zooplankton , 2000 .

[92]  Erwan Josse,et al.  Tuna food habits related to the micronekton distribution in French Polynesia , 2002 .

[93]  David G. Reid.  Report on Echo Trace Classification , 2000 .

[94]  Rolf J. Korneliussen,et al.  Combining multibeam-sonar and multifrequency-echosounder data: examples of the analysis and imaging of large euphausiid schools , 2009 .

[95]  P. Petitgas.  Biomass-dependent dynamics of fish spatial distributions characterized by geostatistical aggregation curves , 1998 .

[96]  J. Purcell,et al.  Anthropogenic causes of jellyfish blooms and their direct consequences for humans: a review , 2007 .

[97]  S. Jennings.  Reporting and advising on the effects of fishing , 2007 .

[98]  Jacques Masse,et al.  Acoustic observations in the Bay of Biscay: Schooling, vertical distribution, species assemblages and behaviour , 1996 .

[99]  Laurent Berger,et al.  The new fisheries multibeam echosounder ME70: description and expected contribution to fisheries research , 2008 .

[100]  Stan Kotwicki,et al.  Developing an acoustic survey of euphausiids to understand trophic interactions in the Bering Sea ecosystem , 2012 .

[101]  J. Costello,et al.  Comparison of acoustic and pump sampling techniques for the analysis of zooplankton distributions , 1989 .

[102]  C. Ryer,et al.  Evaluating the role of fish behavior in surveys conducted with underwater vehicles , 2008 .

[103]  R. Quiñones,et al.  Relationship between abundance of small pelagic fishes and environmental factors in the Colombian Caribbean Sea: an analysis based on hydroacoustic information , 2003 .

[104]  R. E. Thorne,et al.  Ground truth and target identification for fisheries acoustics , 2000 .

[105]  L. Crowder,et al.  Vertical distribution of fish biomass in hypoxic waters on the Gulf of Mexico shelf , 2009 .

[106]  Ole Arve Misund,et al.  Underwater acoustics in marine fisheries and fisheries research , 1997, Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries.

[107]  J. Rice,et al.  A framework for selecting a suite of indicators for fisheries management , 2005 .

[108]  Improved acoustic surveys that save time and money: integrating fisheries and ground-discrimination acoustic technologies , 2004 .

[109]  D. Demer,et al.  Predicting habitat to optimize sampling of Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) , 2011 .

[110]  James H. Brown,et al.  The Report of the Ecological Society of America Committee on the Scientific Basis for Ecosystem Management , 1996 .

[111]  Paul G. Fernandes,et al.  Acoustic applications in fisheries science: the ICES contribution , 2002 .

[112]  J. Boucher,et al.  How much fish is hidden in the surface and bottom acoustic blind zones , 2009 .

[113]  P. Brehmer,et al.  Fisheries Acoustics: Theory and Practice, 2nd edn , 2006 .

[114]  V. Ridoux,et al.  Investigating the coupling between small pelagic fish and marine top predators using data collected from ecosystem-based surveys , 2011 .

[115]  Colin Ware,et al.  Fine-scale prey aggregations and foraging ecology of humpback whales Megaptera novaeangliae , 2009 .

[116]  Stuart Robson,et al.  The accuracy and precision of underwater measurements of length and maximum body depth of southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) with a stereo-video camera system , 2003 .

[117]  G. Walters,et al.  Survey Assessment of Semi-pelagic Gadoids: The Example ofWalleye Pollock, Theragra chalcogramma, in the Eastern Bering Sea , 1994 .

[118]  J. Koslow,et al.  The role of acoustics in ecosystem-based fishery management , 2009 .

[119]  Kenneth G. Foote,et al.  Acoustic Methods: Brief Review and Prospects for Advancing Fisheries Research , 2009 .

[120]  Peter H. Wiebe,et al.  Zooplankton Methodology Manual , 2000 .

[121]  Pierre Petitgas,et al.  Hydro-plankton characteristics and their relationship with sardine and anchovy distributions on the French shelf of the Bay of Biscay , 2006 .

[122]  Integration of fisheries acoustics surveys and bathymetric mapping to characterize midwater-seafloor habitats of US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico (2008-2010) , 2011 .

[123]  Jake C. Rice,et al.  A generalization of the three-stage model for advice using the precautionary approach in fisheries, to apply broadly to ecosystem properties and pressures , 2009 .

[124]  Andrew K. Skidmore,et al.  Capturing the fugitive: Applying remote sensing to terrestrial animal distribution and diversity , 2007, Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinformation.

[125]  Whitlow W. L. Au,et al.  Echo strength and density structure of Hawaiian mesopelagic boundary community patches. , 2003 .

[126]  Paul G. Fernandes,et al.  A consistent approach to definitions and symbols in fisheries acoustics , 2002 .

[127]  R. E. Thorne,et al.  Acoustical-optical assessment of Pacific herring and their predator assemblage in Prince William Sound, Alaska , 2003 .

[128]  Alan Williams,et al.  Effectiveness of Biological Surrogates for Predicting Patterns of Marine Biodiversity: A Global Meta-Analysis , 2011, PloS one.

[129]  V. Trenkel,et al.  Exploring the abundance-occupancy relationships for the Georges Bank finfish and shellfish community from 1963 to 2006. , 2011, Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America.

[130]  W. Au,et al.  Prey dynamics affect foraging by a pelagic predator (Stenella longirostris) over a range of spatial and temporal scales , 2003, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

[131]  Carl J. Walters,et al.  Ecopath, Ecosim, and Ecospace as tools for evaluating ecosystem impact of fisheries , 2000 .

[132]  John G. Field,et al.  Using size-based indicators to evaluate the ecosystem effects of fishing , 2005 .

[133]  E. Ona,et al.  Synthetic echograms generated from the relative frequency response , 2003 .

[134]  G. Cutter,et al.  A comparison of bathymetry mapped with the Simrad ME70 multibeam echosounder operated in bathymetric and fisheries modes , 2010 .

[135]  R. Hewitt,et al.  The use of acoustic sampling to estimate the dispersion and abundance of euphausiids, with an emphasis on Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba , 2000 .

[136]  K. G. Foote,et al.  6 – Acoustical methods , 2000 .

[137]  Manuel Barange,et al.  Habitat expansion and contraction in anchovy and sardine populations , 2009 .

[138]  M. Luoto,et al.  Pelagic fish abundance in relation to regional environmental variation in the Gulf of Finland, northern Baltic Sea , 2007 .

[139]  M. Dickey‐Collas,et al.  When is year-class strength determined in western Baltic herring? , 2009 .

[140]  Ole Arve Misund,et al.  Swimming behaviour of fish schools in the North Sea during acoustic surveying and pelagic trawl sampling , 1992 .

[141]  Verena Trenkel,et al.  Combining indicator trends to assess ongoing changes in exploited fish communities: diagnostic of communities off the coasts of France , 2005 .

[142]  James H. Churnside,et al.  Airborne lidar for fisheries applications , 2001 .

[143]  Andrew S. Brierley,et al.  Interannual variability in krill abundance at South Georgia , 1997 .

[144]  J. C. Taylor,et al.  Swimming behavior of juvenile anchovies (Anchoa spp.) in an episodically hypoxic estuary: implications for individual energetics and trophic dynamics , 2007 .

[145]  Egil Ona,et al.  Quantifying and reducing the surface blind zone and the seabed dead zone using new technology , 2009 .

[146]  N. Makris,et al.  Critical Population Density Triggers Rapid Formation of Vast Oceanic Fish Shoals , 2009, Science.

[147]  J. Jech,et al.  A multifrequency method to classify and evaluate fisheries acoustics data , 2006 .

[148]  H. Gjøsæter,et al.  The acoustic method as used in the abundance estimation of capelin (Mallotus villosus Müller) and herring (Clupea harengus Linné) in the Barents Sea , 1998 .

[149]  M. Zapata,et al.  Recent advances in HPLC pigment analysis of phytoplankton , 1999 .

[150]  Rudy J. Kloser,et al.  Acoustic observations of micronekton fish on the scale of an ocean basin: potential and challenges , 2009 .

[151]  David A. Mann,et al.  Response of clupeid fish to ultrasound: a review , 2004 .

[152]  Joanne Lyczkowski-Shultz,et al.  Evaluation of video and acoustic index methods for assessing reef-fish populations , 1996 .

[153]  W. A. Karp.  Collection of acoustic data from fishing vessels , 2007 .