Abstract
Grenadiers Macrourus spp. are the main bycatch species in the exploratory longline fishery for toothfish Dissostichus spp. in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. Ongoing monitoring tools are needed to assess stock status of grenadiers in the Ross Sea and to ensure ecological relationships are maintained. There may be potential to use fisheries acoustic methods to obtain estimates of grenadier abundance. Acoustic data collected during New Zealand’s International Polar Year Census of Marine Life survey in February–March 2008 provide evidence that single targets close to the bottom over the Ross Sea slope are grenadiers. The acoustic target strength distribution of single targets was very similar to that predicted based on the measured size range of grenadiers. There are also positive correlations between acoustic backscatter and trawl and longline catches of grenadiers. Key uncertainties of the acoustic method are mark identification away from the bottom, and technical issues with low signal-to-noise ratio at depths greater than 1000 m and the acoustic dead-zone close to the bottom.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Fishes of the Southern Ocean, Gon, O. and Heemstra, P.C., Eds., Grahamston, South Africa: J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology, 1990.
Haedrich, R.L., Pelagic Capture of the Epibenthic Rattail Coryphaenoides rupestris, Deep-Sea Res., 1974, vol. 21, pp. 977–979.
Hanchet, S., O’Driscoll, R., Ballara, S, et al., Grenadier Bycatch in the Toothfish Longline Fishery in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, Am. Fish. S. S., 2008a, vol. 63, pp. 451–462.
Hanchet, S.M., Stevenson, M.L., Jones, C., et al., Biomass Estimates and Size Distributions of Demersal Finfish on the Ross Sea Shelf and Slope from the New Zealand IPYCAML Survey, February–March 2008, CCAMLR WG-FSA-08/31, 2008b.
Kloser, R., Lewis, M., Ryan, T., et al., Acoustic Assessment of Toothfish Abundance, in Ecological Sustainable Development of the Patagonian Toothfish (Dissostichus eleginoides) Around Macquarie Island: Population Assessment and Ecological Interactions, Final Report to Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, He, X. and Furlani, D., Eds., Australia, 2001, nos. 97/122, pp. 59–70.
Kokorin, N.V. and Serbin, V.V., First Experimental Settings of Deepwater Vertical Longlines in the Antarctic Toothfish Fishery Dissostichus mawsoni Norman, 1937 (Perciformes, Nototheniidae) in the Amundsen Sea, CCAMLR WG-FSA-09/8, 2009.
Marriot, P.M., Horn, P.L., and McMillan, P., Species Identification and Age Estimation for the Ridge-Scaled Macrourid (Macrourus whitsoni) in the Ross Sea, CCAMLR Sci., 2003, vol. 10, pp. 37–51.
Marriott, P.M., Manning, M.J., and Horn, P.L., Age Estimation and Maturity of the Ridge-Scaled Macrourid (Macrourus whitsoni) from the Ross Sea, CCAMLR Sci., 2006, vol. 13, pp. 291–303.
McMillan, P., Iwamoto, T., Stewart, A., et al., A New Species of Grenadier, Genus Macrourus (Teleostei, Gadiformes, Macrouridae) from the Southern Hemisphere and a Revision of the Genus, Zootaxa, 2012, vol. 3165, pp. 1–24.
Nero, R.W., Thompson, C.H., and Love, R.H., Abyssopelagic Grenadiers: The Probable Cause of Low Frequency Sound Scattering at Great Depths off the Oregon and California Coasts, Deep-Sea Res., 1997, vol. 44,part 1, pp. 627–645.
O’Driscoll, R.L., Estimating Uncertainty Associated with Acoustic Surveys of Spawning Hoki (Macruronus novaezelandiae) in Cook Strait, New Zealand, ICES J. Mar. Sci., 2004, vol. 61, pp. 84–97.
O’Driscoll, R.L. and Macaulay, G.J., Descriptive Analysis of Acoustic Data Collected during the 2003 Exploratory Fishery for Toothfish in the Ross Sea, CCAMLR WG-FSA-03/28, 2003.
O’Driscoll, R.L., Macaulay, G.J., Gauthier, S., et al., Distribution, Abundance, and Acoustic Properties of Antarctic Silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum) in the Ross Sea, Deep-Sea Res., 2011, vol. 58,part 2, pp. 181–195.
Ona, E. and Mitson, R.B., Acoustic Sampling and Signal Processing near the Seabed: The Deadzone Revisited, ICES J. Mar. Sci., 1996, vol. 53, pp. 677–690.
Pearcy, W.G., Pelagic Capture of Abyssobenthic Macrourid Fish, Deep-Sea Res., 1976, vol. 23, pp. 1065–1066.
Shibanov, V.N., Kaludin, A.N., and Yarovoj, A.S., Methods of Assessing Stocks of Roundnose Grenadier on the North Atlantic Ridge, Murmansk: PINRO, 1989.
Simmonds, E.J. and MacLennan, D.N., Fisheries Acoustics Theory and Practice, 2nd ed., Oxford Blackwell Science, 2005.
Smith, P.J., Steinke, D., McMillan, P.J., et al., DNA Barcoding Highlights a Cryptic Species of Grenadier Macrourus in the Southern Ocean, J. Fish Biol., 2011, vol. 78, pp. 355–365.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The article is published in the original.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
O’Driscoll, R.L., Hanchet, S.M. & Miller, B.S. Can acoustic methods be used to monitor grenadier (Macrouridae) abundance in the Ross Sea region?. J. Ichthyol. 52, 700–708 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945212100098
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945212100098