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ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil 2004 61(5):836-845; doi:10.1016/j.icesjms.2004.03.033
© 2004 by ICES/CIEM International Council for the Exploration of the Sea/Conseil International pour l'Exploration de la Mer
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Potential acoustic discrimination within boreal fish assemblages

Stéphane Gauthier* and John K. Horne

University of Washington, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences PO Box 355020, Seattle, WA 98195-5020, USA

*Correspondence to S. Gauthier: tel: +1 206 221 5459; fax: +1 206 221 6939. e-mail: sgau{at}u.washington.edu.

Differences in the acoustic characteristics of forage fish species in the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea were examined using Kirchhoff ray-mode (KRM) backscatter models. Our goal was to identify species-specific characteristics and metrics that facilitate the discrimination of species using acoustic techniques. Five fish species were analyzed: capelin (Mallotus villosus), Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii), walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma), Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius), and eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus). Backscatter amplitude differences exist among these species, especially between swimbladdered and non-swimbladdered fish. Echo intensities were variable within and among species. The effect of morphological variability was indexed using the ratio of the Reduced-scattering length (RSL) standard deviation over its mean. Morphological variability was low only at fish length to acoustic wavelength ratios less than eight. Target strength differences between pairs of carrier frequencies (ranging from 12 kHz to 200 kHz) differed among species, and were dependent on fish size and body orientation. Frequency differencing successfully discriminated between fish species but the choice of frequency to maximize target strength differences was not consistent among species pairs. Frequency-dependent, backscatter model predictions facilitate comparison of target strength differences prior to acoustic data collection.

Keywords: Bering Sea, forage fish, Gulf of Alaska, KRM model, species identification, target strength

Received 1 December 2003; accepted 30 March 2004.


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