Acoustic backscattering by deepwater fish measured in situ from a manned submersible

An outstanding problem in fisheries acoustics is the depth dependence of scattering characteristics of swimbladder-bearing fish, and the effects of pressure on the target strength of physoclistous fish remain unresolved. In situ echoes from deepwater snappers were obtained with a sonar transducer mounted on a manned submersible next to a low-light video camera, permitting simultaneous echo recording and identification of species, fish size and orientation. The sonar system, consisting of a transducer, single board computer, hard disk, and analog-to-digital converter, used a 80 mus, broadband signal (bandwidth 35 kHz, center frequency 120 kHz). The observed relationship between fish length and in situ target strength shows no difference from the relationship measured at the surface. No differences in the species-specific temporal echo characteristics were observed between surface and in situ measures. This indicates that the size and shape of the snappers' swimbladders are maintained both at the surface and at depths of up to 250 m. Information obtained through controlled backscatter measurements of tethered, anesthetized fish at the surface can be applied to free-swimming fish at depth. This is the first published account of the use of a manned submersible to measure in situ scattering from identified, individual animals with known orientations. The distinct advantage of this technique compared with other in situ techniques is the ability to observe the target fish, obtaining accurate species, size, and orientation infort-nation. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.