Develop and apply hydroacoustic surveys

Project commences late 2023

Hydroacoustic techniques use underwater sound signals to identify fish and are commonly used to survey pelagic fish species, such as Sardines and Anchovies. Acoustic surveys have the capacity to cover large areas relatively quickly and gather information over a wide range.

More recently, hydroacoustic techniques have been developed to survey for demersal fish species – species that generally occupy the bottom third of the water column. This application has several challenges.

This study will explore the feasibility of hydroacoustic surveys to estimate the biomass of Snapper aggregations in South Australia's gulfs using the active acoustic methodology developed in Western Australia – see Estimating abundance of fish associated with structured habitats by combining acoustics and optics.

The study, led by the CSIRO, will investigate the current limitations of the approach and refine the methodology to assess if estimates of biomass from this technique are suitable for formal stock assessment.