Satellite-linked acoustic receivers to observe behavior of fish in remote areas

Other titles Récepteurs acoustiques avec liaison satellite pour l'observation du comportement de poissons dans des zones éloignées
Type Article
Date 2007-10
Language English
Author(s) Dagorn L1, Pincock D2, Girard C3, Holland K4, Taquet Marc5, Sancho G6, Itano D7, Aumeeruddy R8
Affiliation(s) 1 : UR Thetis, CRH, IRD, F-34230 Sete, France.
2 : Amirix Syst, Halifax, NS B3S 1E1, Canada.
3 : CLS, Div Oceanog Spatiale, F-31520 Ramonville St Agne, France.
4 : Univ Hawaii, Hawaii Inst Marine Biol, Kaneohe, HI 96744 USA.
5 : IFREMER, F-34230 Sete, France.
6 : Coll Charleston, Grice Marine Lab, Charleston, SC 29412 USA.
7 : Univ Hawaii, JIMAR, Pelag Fisheries Res Program, Honolulu, HI 96822 USA.
8 : Seychelles Fishing Author, Victoria, Mahe, Seychelles.
Source Aquatic Living Resources (0990-7440) (EDP Sciences), 2007-10 , Vol. 20 , N. 4 , P. 307-312
DOI 10.1051/alr:2008001
WOS© Times Cited 32
Keyword(s) Pelagic fish, Tuna, Fish telemetry, Acoustic receiver, FAD
Abstract Automated acoustic receivers are now widely used by biologists to study the behavior of fish. However, currently available acoustic receivers require physical recovery of the units to download stored data. Such operation is often difficult in remote study areas like in the open ocean. We present a new satellite-linked acoustic receiver (Vemco VR3-Argos) that allows downloading data through a satellite uplink (Argos). The VR3-Argos can last up to one year, sending GPS positions and tag data at regular time intervals. We illustrate the advantages of this new technology with tagging data from 121 fish of seven species (yellowfin tuna, bigeye tuna, skipjack tuna, wahoo, dolphinfish, silky shark and oceanic triggerfish) caught and released around drifting fish aggregating devices (FADs) in the Western Indian Ocean, far from any land. In opposition with the classic acoustic receivers (Vemco VR2), the use of VR3-Argos allowed to collect data for several weeks after leaving the drifting FADs. Maximum residence times of 3 days for bigeye tuna, 7 days for skipjack, 8 days for wahoo, 10 days for silky shark and 15 days for yellowfin tuna, dolphinfish and oceanic triggerfish could be recorded. VR2 and VR3-Argos are equivalent in terms of quality of residence times data, however depth data obtained through satellites are aggregated in 8 classes for compression purposes, which leads to a loss of precision available with raw data. Future directions of this technology are discussed.
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