Helge Balk

Improved fish detection in data from split-beam sonar

Hydroacoustic split-beam techniques have been applied to enumerate salmon migrating in the river Tana (northern Norway) during the summers 1998 and 1999. Analysing data by single echo detection and tracking was difficult. Missing echoes in tracks from fish, combined with noise in the output from the single echo detector was seen as reasons for this. An improved counting method is presented. Contours from moving targets are detected by image analysis. Then, detected single echoes within these contours are combined into tracks. This procedure reduces problems related to noise, and to tracking fish with few accepted single echoes.

Comparing hydroacoustic fish stock estimates in the pelagic zone of temperate deep lakes using three sound frequencies (70, 120, 200 kHz)

Abstract Several decades of research have led to the acceptance of hydroacoustics as a reliable measurement method to monitor fish population in lakes, but full standardisation and intercalibration are still lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of sound frequency on acoustic parameters, such as volume backscattering strength, target strength, and the estimation of fish abundance. Data were recorded in situ using 3 frequencies (70, 120, 200 kHz) simultaneously in 2 different lakes. The results among the frequencies were compared and statistically tested. Data from the 70 and 120 kHz frequencies yielded similar results, but the 200 kHz echosounder estimates in temperate lakes seemed different, especially in cases of high fish abundance, which is typical of eutrophic ecosystems. This work indicates that the abundance estimates of fish populations in temperate lakes based on 200 kHz frequency may differ from results obtained using lower frequencies, and that further study is needed.

New single echo detection methods for shallow water fishery acoustics

Acoustic target detection is commonly carried out with parametric single echo detectors. These detectors test one ping at a time and look for echoes fulfilling a set of criteria such as echo duration and shape. In shallow water, noise phenomena can distort echoes from fish and false fish echoes can be generated. This causes the parametric detector to produce fractionated tracks from fish surrounded by numerous noise detections. Parametric detectors utilize only small portions of the information available in a split beam echogram. By including information from more than one ping and from the background reverberation, a more robust fish detector has been designed. This detector, called the Cross Filter Detector (CFD), has now been further improved by applying the variance in the angle measurements.

A novel upward-looking hydroacoustic method for improving pelagic fish surveys

For ethical reasons and animal welfare, it is becoming increasingly more important to carry out ecological surveys with a non-invasive approach. Information about fish distribution and abundance in the upper water column is often fundamental. However, this information is extremely hard to obtain using classical hydroacoustic methods. We developed a rigid frame system for pushing upward looking transducers of the scientific echo sounder (38 and 120 kHz) in front of the research vessel. The efficiency of the new approach for monitoring juvenile fish at night was investigated by comparing the results with a quantitative fry trawl in the Římov Reservoir in the Czech Republic. The experimental setup enabled comparisons for the 0–3 m and 3–6 m depth layers, which are utilized by almost all juvenile fish in summer. No statistically significant differences in the estimated abundance of juveniles were found between the two sampling methods. The comparison of abundance estimates gathered by the two frequencies were also not significantly different. The predicted mean lengths from acoustic sampling and the trawl catches differed by less than 10 mm in all comparisons. Results suggest that mobile hydroacoustic upward-looking systems can fill the methodological gap in non-invasive surveying of surface fishes.