Acoustical monitoring of fish density, behavior, and growth rate in a tank

Type Article
Date 2006-02
Language English
Author(s) Conti Stéphane1, Roux Philippe2, Fauvel Christian3, Maurer Benjamin1, Demer David1
Affiliation(s) 1 : SW Fisheries Sci Ctr, La Jolla, CA 92037 USA.
2 : Univ Calif San Diego, SIO, Marine Phys Lab, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA.
3 : IFREMER, Stn Expt Aquaculture, F-34250 Palavas Les Flots, France.
Source Aquaculture (0044-8486) (Elsevier), 2006-02 , Vol. 251 , N. 2-4 , P. 314-323
DOI 10.1016/j.aquaculture.2005.06.018
WOS© Times Cited 31
Keyword(s) Total scattering cross section, Fish counting, Growth rate, Remote monitoring, Fish behavior
Abstract A challenge for the aquaculture community has long been the development of harmless techniques for monitoring fish in a tank. Acoustic telemetry has been used to monitor fish swimming behavior, and passive acoustics have been used to monitor fish feeding, but new techniques are needed to monitor non-invasively their numbers and growth rates. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the acoustical total scattering cross section of fish swimming in a tank can be measured from multiple reverberation time series. These measurements have been used successfully to estimate the number of fish in a tank in laboratory conditions, and to characterize their acoustical signatures. Here, we introduce a novel method for acoustically monitoring fish numerical density and behavior, and measuring their growth rates over long periods of time. These measurements can be performed remotely, without human interaction with the fish, and are harmless. To demonstrate the efficiency of these techniques, the number of sea bass, as well as the behaviors of sardines, rockfish and sea bass, in different tanks were monitored. Also, the growth rates of a group of starved sardines and a group of fed sardines were measured acoustically, over I month. For comparison, their average weight was measured once per week.
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