575A.N. Popper and A. Hawkins (eds.), The Effects of Noise on Aquatic Life, Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 730, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-7311-5_130,© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

Y. A. Kuznetsov (�) Far East State Technical Institute of Fishery and Fish Industry , 690650 Vladivostok , Russia e-mail: imf.dalrybvtuz@mail.ru

L. N. Bocharov • V. N. Akulin • M. Y. Kuznetsov Pacific Scientific Research Fisheries Center , 690950 Vladivostok , Russia e-mail: tinro@tinro.ru

According to the UN General Assembly resolution on sustainable fisheries (2007) “… fish stocks in many parts of the world are overfished or subject to sparsely regulated and heavy fishing effort as a result of, among other things, illegal, unreported and unregulated fisheries, inadequate monitoring, and enforcement actions….” To deal with these problems, a set of principles for ecosystem man-agement has been recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in the form of a Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries. In terms of their impact on biota, fisheries can change the structure and function of marine ecosystems significantly. However, the theoretical rules for fisheries management have been formulated for the exploitation of homo-geneous, ideal populations. They are not suitable for ensuring the sustainable development of the oceans and conservation of aquatic ecosystems in a wider sense.

Trawling accounts for 80% of the total world’s fish catches. Assessing the condition and state of the fish stocks is done mainly by trawl and acoustic-trawl surveys. Because fish stocks show complex behavior and are subject to environmental change, simple trawl surveys cannot provide a complete picture of stock status. As a consequence, stochastic models describing the dynamics of exploited fish stocks are used. They often involve a mechanistic representation of the catch parameters (fishing effort, catch zone, coefficient of catchability). Fishing effort may be defined in terms of the volume of water sieved, the catch zone by the area swept by the trawl, and the coefficient of catchability, i.e., the proportion of fish retained from the volume of water sieved. Simple algorithms are used to estimate fish density on the ground, but they are often subject to great uncertainty. Canadian researcher Peter Larkin ( 1977 ) , during the development of fishery theory, proclaimed an epitaph for the concept of maximum sustained yield as it props up the economy of a fishery at the expense of unreported discharge of catches and misrepresentation of statistics. The concept is ineffective in counteracting the disastrous situation in modern fisheries, i.e., illegal, unreported, and unregulated fisheries.

Fish themselves show species- and size-specific differences in behavior. Fishing nets have their own technical features and hydrodynamic behavior. Together these factors make an objective assessment of the fish stocks almost impossible. In considering the formation of fish aggregations and their behavior in the vicinity of the vessel and trawl, the acoustic field of the ship is considered

Marine Bioacoustics and the Regulation of Fisheries

Yury A. Kuznetsov , Lev N. Bocharov , Valeriy N. Akulin , and Michail Y. Kuznetsov

576 Y.A. Kuznetsov et al.

to be an important factor. Vabø et al. ( 2002 ) , Mitson and Knudsen ( 2003 ) , and more recently De Robertis and Wilson ( 2010 ) , working with Clupea harengus and Theragra chalcogramma , have shown that fish schools dive and disperse at distances of 270-500 m from approaching vessels. The more usual shape and density of the fish schools can recover shortly after the vessel has passed. The characteristics of hearing in the fish and their swimming abilities affect the response to passage of the ship and trawl significantly. However, these features are not used in assessing the fisheries.

We carried out research work on hearing and locomotion in some Pacific species. Our research has shown that the reactions of fish to various stimuli with different spectral-energy and temporal characteristics vary significantly in terms of the direction moved and the duration and the latency of the response (Kuznetsov and Kuznetsov 2007 ) . The frequency band in which fishing vessels cre-ate noise fits with the hearing sensitivity curve of the majority of species. We cannot yet predict the distance of the response of different species to the noise field generated by an approaching ship. Figure 1 demonstrates the estimated distance of reaction by Clupea pallasii (pacific herring) to a noisy vessel. Discrepancies in the assessment of the distance arises from the difference in noise levels emitted by different ships. For example, the noise-reduced research vessel Oscar Dyson (USA) results in reactions at much closer distances than the research vessel Miller Freeman (De Robertis and Wilson 2010 ) . The noise of a large-capacity fishing vessel Prostor (Russian vessel) has a great effect on the behavior of herring.

As an alternative to the traditional approach, we consider new methods for examining marine eco-systems. Hydroacoustic methods and the tools of marine bioacoustics allow us to lift the “veil of secrecy” and enable us to discover the ways in which aquatic organisms interact with the natural world and also with the new stimuli provided by ships and fishing gears (Kuznetsov and Kuznetsov 2007 ) .

To manage fisheries properly, we need to know how many fish there are. Our data allow us to predict the activity of fish close to vessels from a knowledge of the acoustic field and the swimming abilities of fish. It allows us to reduce any errors in the processes of echo-integration and estimation of the volume and composition of the catch through acoustic surveys and trawl surveys. We are able to compensate for the effects of noise. By measuring the characteristics of different vessels in a cali-brated test area, we are able to derive information on the likely reactions of the fish. The data can be compiled together with information on vessel activities derived from satellite monitoring sys-tems (vessel monitoring system [VMS]) and then delivered to users by means of a user friendly

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577Marine Bioacoustics and the Regulation of Fisheries

interface. Existing VMSs (e.g., in Russia) provide information on the positioning of ships, daily reports on catches, and the pattern of operating activities (Koshkareva et al. 2005 ) .

With modern VMSs, users will be more demanding in terms of the quality of information. Shipowners, fishing operators onboard the vessels, fisheries institutes, control authorities, and fish-ery managers are interested in obtaining more detailed information on catches. Their need for information requires additional analysis of the real mechanisms controlling catches and bycatches. Techniques will need to be standardized in accordance with updated technical regulations. The final result should be stable instruments for the control of fisheries. These methods should enable us to uphold the principles set out by the FAO.

References

De Robertis A, Wilson CD (2010) Silent ships sometimes do encounter more fish. 2. Concurrent echosounder obser-vations from a free-drifting buoy and vessels. ICES J Mar Sci 67:996-1003. Doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsp301.

Koshkareva LA, Obraztsov FA, et al. (2005) Monitoring of fishery (in Russian). Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski, Russian Federation.

Kuznetsov YA, Kuznetsov MY (2007) Substantiation and development of methods and means of fishery bioacoustics (in Russian). Dalrybvtuz, Vladivostok, Russian Federation.

Larkin PA (1977) An epitaph for the concept of maximum sustained yield. Trans Am Fish Soc 106:1–11. Mitson RB, Knudsen HP (2003) Causes and effects of underwater noise on fish abundance estimation. Aquat Living

Resour 16:255–263. Vabø, R, Olsen K, Huse I (2002) The effect of vessel avoidance of wintering Norwegian spring-spawning herring.

Fish Res 58:59–77.