TY - JOUR T1 - New applications of hydroacoustic methods for monitoring shallow water aquatic ecosystems: the case of mussel culture grounds A1 - Brehmer,Patrice A1 - Gerlotto,François A1 - Guillard,Jean A1 - Sanguinede,Fabien A1 - Guennegan,Yvon A1 - Buestel,Dominique AD - Institut de Recherches pour le Développement, CRHMT/UR061 and US004, BP 171, 34203 Sète, France AD - Inst Rech Dev, Santiago 53390 1, Chile. AD - CRHMT, Inst Francais Rech Exploitat Mer, RH, F-34203 Sete, France. AD - COP, Inst Francais Rech Exploitat Mer, Taravao 98719, Tahiti, Fr Polynesia. UR - https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/574/ DO - 10.1016/S0990-7440(03)00042-1 KW - Ecosystem KW - Artificial reef KW - Mussel longline KW - Fish school KW - Monitoring KW - Multibeam sonar N2 - The development of acoustics tools and methods for monitoring anthropized ecosystems represents a new field for the application of acoustics. Monitoring such an environment was not possible with single vertical echo sounders, due to the fact that the artificial structures and the natural targets were not distinguishable. Monitoring data were collected along the French Mediterranean coastline, during five short surveys of mussel culture longline areas. Both the Reson Seabat 6012 multibeam sonar (455 kHz) and the Simrad SR 240 omnidirectional sonar (23.75 kHz) were used for target detection. The former tools allow accurate allocation of the different types of echoes to artefacts, fish schools and scattered fish. The school characteristics collected included morphological, geographical (GPS, school location), and behavioural (connections with the longlines). An acoustic survey undertaken with the same hardware near the study area allowed the comparison of fish schools and the TS distribution of individual fish in the open sea and in the mussel area. These data permitted us to evaluate the ecological impact of a mussel culture on the ecosystem, in a context of predation behaviour of fish on these longlines. Finally, the acoustic data revealed the configuration of each concession and the level of charge of each line. We discuss the applicability of this technology for in situ real time monitoring for joint management of such ecosystems. The information can allow littoral cooperative management or incorporating it into an ecosystem approach. Y1 - 2003/07 PB - Elsevier JF - Aquatic Living Resources SN - 0990-7440 VL - 16 IS - 3 SP - 333 EP - 338 ID - 574 ER -