Passive acoustic techniques in fisheries science: A review and prospectus

An extremely wide variety of fish taxa produce sound. Sound production behavior provides an opportunity to Study various aspects of fish biology, such as spawning behavior and habitat selection, in a noninvasive manner. Passive acoustics is an active area of ichthyological research. However, fish bioacousticians have generally not published their research in the fisheries literature. Therefore, fisheries scientists may not be fully aware of progress being made in this field or of potential uses for passive acoustic techniques. In this paper, I discuss the evolutionary, physiological, and behavioral aspects of sound production by fishes; investigate the publication patterns of research on fish sound production; review the literature on the application of passive acoustic methods to fisheries research; and suggest ways of designing passive acoustic surveys to optimize the quantity and quality of information obtained. Passive acoustic methods can be an attractive alternative or supplement to traditional fisheries assessment techniques because they are noninvasive, can be conducted at low cost, and can cover a large study area at high spatial and temporal resolution. However, as in all fisheries surveys, research questions should be defined clearly at the outset and careful planning is necessary to obtain the data required to address those questions.