Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T20:59:23.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Joint use of echosounding, fishing and video techniquesto assess the structure of fish aggregations around mooredFish Aggregating Devices in Martinique (Lesser Antilles)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2008

Mathieu Doray ,
Erwan Josse ,
Paul Gervain ,
Lionel Reynal  and
Josselin Chantrel
Mathieu Doray
Affiliation:
IRD/Ifremer, US Acoustique halieutique, Centre IRD de Bretagne, BP 70, 29280 Plouzané, France
Erwan Josse
Affiliation:
IRD, US Acoustique halieutique, Centre IRD de Bretagne, BP 70, 29280 Plouzané, France
Paul Gervain
Affiliation:
POLKA, Rue Authe 2, 97100 Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe
Lionel Reynal
Affiliation:
Ifremer, Laboratoire Ressources Halieutiques Antilles, Pointe Fort, 97321 Le Robert, Martinique
Josselin Chantrel
Affiliation:
Ifremer, Laboratoire Ressources Halieutiques Antilles, Pointe Fort, 97321 Le Robert, Martinique
Get access

Abstract

From April 2003 to April 2004 monthly sea surveys were conducted around 2 fish aggregating devices (FADs) moored at 2000 and 2500 m depth in Martinique (Lesser Antilles). The use of a dual frequency splitbeam echosounder combined with an underwater camera and fishing methods allowed assessment of average space and time distribution of pelagic fish aggregated beneath the FADs, as well as identification of their overall size and species composition. At daytime, 4 fish aggregations were identified at each FAD, representing 4 distinct types: i) an aggregation of small juvenile tuna (mean fork length, FL: 30 cm) observed very close to the surface in 25% of daytime periods; ii) a small surface aggregation dominated by carangids, Caranx crysos, present in 65% of daytime periods; iii) a large sub-surface aggregation observed during all daytime periods: this aggregation appeared to be primarily comprised of 58 cm FL blackfin tuna (Thunnus atlanticus), mixed with yellowfin (Thunnus albacares) and skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) tunas of the same size; and iv) sub-surface scattered large predators (mainly blue marlin, Makaira nigricans) present in 10% of daytime periods. A smaller sub-surface aggregation comprised of medium tuna mixed with “extranatants” (fishes which remain within 10 to 50 m of a FAD) was observed in 75% of night-time periods, whereas unidentified scattered fishes were detected from 70 to 400 m depth. The low daytime vulnerability of medium sub-surface tunas to applied line techniques leads us to assume that their feeding motivation was low during daytime. These tunas could preferentially feed on mesopelagic organisms during night-time and transition periods around Martinican moored FADs. Local fishermen mainly targeted the large scattered predators using very small tunas as living bait. The sub-surface tuna aggregation hence appeared to be currently unexploited by local fisheries, though it represented the large majority of the pelagic biomass around the moored FADs.

Keywords

Fish aggregating deviceAcousticsUnderwater videoSmall scale fisheryAggregative behaviourTunaLesser Antilles
Type
Research Article
Information
Aquatic Living Resources , Volume 20 , Issue 4: Fish Aggregating Devices as Instrumented Observatories of Pelagic Ecosystems , October 2007 , pp. 357 - 366
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, IFREMER, IRD, 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andersen L.N., 2005, Status and plans for the ER60/EK60. ICES WGFAST Report 2005, ICES CM 2005/B:05, pp. 20.
Ariz Telleria J., Delgado de Molina A., Fonteneau A., Gonzales Costas F., Pallarès P., 1999, Logs and tunas in the eastern tropical Atlantic: A review of present knowledge and uncertainties. In: Scott M.D., Bayliff W.H., Lennert-Cody C.E., Schaefer K.M. (Eds.) Proc. Int. Workshop on the Ecology and Fisheries for Tunas Associated with Floating Objects, Feb. 1992. Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission Special Report 11, La Jolla, CA, pp. 21–65.
Baamstedt, U., Kaartvedt, S., Youngbluth, M., 2003, An evaluation of acoustic and video methods to estimate the abundance and vertical distribution of jellyfish. J. Plankton Res. 25, 1307-1318. CrossRef
Batalyants, K.Y., 1992, On the hypothesis of comfortability stipulation of tuna association with natural and artificial floating objects. ICCAT Collect. Vol. Sci. Pap. 40, 447-453.
Bertrand, A., Josse, E., 2000, Tuna target-strength related to fish length and swimbladder volume. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 57, 1143-1146. CrossRef
Brock, R., 1985, Preliminary study of the feeding habits of pelagic fish around Hawaiian Fish Aggregating Devices or can Fish Aggregating Devices enhance local fisheries productivity? Bull. Mar. Sci. 37, 40-49.
Buckley, T.W., Miller, B.S., 1994, Feeding habits of yellowfin tuna associated with Fish Aggregation Devices in American Samoa. Bull. Mar. Sci. 55, 445-459.
Carey, F.G., Olson, R.J., 1982, Sonic tracking experiments with tunas. ICCAT Collect. Vol. Sci. Pap. 17, 458-466.
Cillauren, E., 1994, Daily fluctuations in the presence of Thunnus albacares and Katsuwonus pelamis around Fish Aggregating Devices anchored in Vanuatu. Oceania Bull. Mar. Sci 55, 581–591.
Dagorn, L., Holland, K., Itano, D., 2007, Behavior of yellowfin (Thunnus albacares) and bigeye (T. obesus) tuna in a network of fish aggregating devices (FADs). Mar. Biol. 151, 595-606. CrossRef
Dempster, T., 2004, Biology of fish associated with fish aggregation devices (FADs): implications for the development of a FAD-based fishery in New South Wales, Australia. Fish. Res. 68, 189-201 CrossRef
Dempster, T., 2005, Temporal variability of pelagic fish assemblages around fish aggregation devices: biological and physical influences. J. Fish Biol. 66, 1237-1260. CrossRef
Depoutot, C., 1987, Contribution à l'étude des dispositifs de concentration de poissons à partir de l'expérience polynésienne. Notes Doc. Océanogr. Cent. Orstom Tahiti 33, 159 p.
Doray, M., Reynal, L., 2003, Catch per trip variability analysis related to several fishing effort components in the small-scale, large pelagic fishery in Martinique (FWI): an attempt to define more accurate fishing effort units function of the different types of fish “aggregators”. Proc. Gulf Caribb. Fish. Inst. 54, 41-59.
Doray, M., Josse, E., Gervain, P., Reynal, L., Chantrel, J., 2006, Acoustic characterisation of pelagic fish aggregations around moored fish aggregating devices in Martinique (Lesser Antilles). Fish. Res. 82, 162-175. CrossRef
Ermolchev, V.A., Zaferman, M.L., 2003, Results of experiments on the video-acoustic estimation of fish target strength in situ. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 60, 544-547. CrossRef
Foote, K.G., 1987, Fish target strengths for use in echo integrator surveys. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 82, 981-987. CrossRef
Foote, K.G., 1982, Optimizing copper spheres for precision calibration of hydroacoustic equipment. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 71, 742-747. CrossRef
Fréon, P., Dagorn, L., 2000, Review of fish associative behaviour: toward a generalisation of the meeting point hypothesis. Rev. Fish Biol. Fish. 10, 183-207. CrossRef
Fréon P., Misund O.A., 1999, Dynamics of pelagic fish distribution and behaviour: effects on fisheries and stock assessment. Blackwell Science, London.
Gimona, A., Fernandes, P.G., 2003, A conditional simulation of acoustic survey data: advantages and potential pitfalls. Aquat. Living Resour. 16, 123-129. CrossRef
Hallier, J.P., 1994, Purse seine fishery on floating objects: what kind of fishing effort? What kind of abundance indices? IPTP Collect. 8, 192-198.
Hartigan, J.A., Wong, M.A., 1979, A K-means clustering algorithm. Appl. Stat. 28, 100-108. CrossRef
Harvey, E., Cappo, M., Shortis, M., Robson, S., Buchanan, J. Speare, P., 2003, The accuracy and precision of underwater measurements of length and maximum body depth of southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) with a stereo-video camera system. Fish. Res. 63, 315-326. CrossRef
Hideyuki, T., Matsuda, A., Takagi, N., Akamatsu, T., 2005, Quantitative survey of fish schools near artificial reefs by the optical-acoustic system (fischom). Fish. Engine. 41, 261-265.
Holland, K.N., Brill, R.W., Chang, R.K.C., 1990, Horizontal and vertical movements of yellowfin and bigeye tuna associated with Fish Aggregating Devices. Fish. Bull. 88, 493-507.
Josse, E., Bertrand, A., Dagorn, L., 1999, An acoustic approach to study tuna aggregated around Fish Aggregating Devices in French Polynesia: methods and validation. Aquat. Living Resour. 12, 303-313. CrossRef
Josse, E., Dagorn, L., Bertrand, A., 2000, Typology and behaviour of tuna aggregations around Fish Aggregating Devices from acoustic surveys in French Polynesia. Aquat. Living Resour. 13, 183-192. CrossRef
Kakuma S., 2000, Current, catch and weight composition of yellowfin tuna with FADs off Okinawa island, Japan. In: Le Gall J.Y., Cayré P., Taquet M. (Eds.). Pêche thonière et Dispositifs de Concentration de Poissons, Ifremer, Actes Colloq. 28, 492-501.
Kloser, R.J., Horne, J.K., 2003, Characterizing uncertainty in target-strength measurements of a deepwater fish: orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus). ICES J. Mar. Sci. 60, 516-523. CrossRef
Massuti, E., Morales-Nin, B., Deudero, S., 1999, Fish fauna associated with floating objects sampled by experimental and commercial purse nets. Sci. Mar. 63, 3-4. CrossRef
Matsumoto, W.M., Kazama, T.K., Aasted, D.C., 1981, Anchored Fish Aggregating Devices in Hawaiian waters. Mar. Fish. Rev. 43, 1-13.
Parin N.V., Fedoryako B.I., 1999, Pelagic fish communities around floating objects in the open ocean. In: Scott M.D., Bayliff W.H., Lennert-Cody C.E., Schaefer K.M. (Eds.), Proc. Int. Workshop on the Ecology and Fisheries for Tunas Associated with Floating Objects, February 11–13, 1992. Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission Special Report 11, La Jolla, CA, pp. 447–458.
Petitgas, P., Massé, J., Beillois, P., Lebarbier, E., Le Cann, A., 2003, Sampling variance of species identification in fisheries-acoustic surveys based on automated procedures associating acoustic images and trawl hauls. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 60, 437-445. CrossRef
Richards, L.J., Kieser, R., Mulligan, T.J., Candy, J.R., 1991, Classification of fish assemblages based on echo integration surveys. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 48, 1264-1272. CrossRef
Schaefer, K.M., Fuller, D., 2005, Behavior of bigeye (Thunnus obesus) and skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis) tunas within aggregations associated with floating objects in the equatorial eastern Pacific. Mar. Biol. 146, 781–792. CrossRef
Simard, Y., McQuinn, I., Montminy, M., Lang, C., Miller, D., Stevens, C., Wiggins, D. Marchalot, C., 1997, Description of the HAC standard format for raw and edited hydroacoustic data, Version 1.0. Can. Tech. Rep. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2174, 65 p.
Simmonds E.J., MacLennan D.N., 2005, Fisheries acoustics. theory and practice. Blackwell, Oxford.
Somerton, D.A., Kikkawa, B.S., Wilson, C.D., 1988, Hook timers to measure the capture time of individual fish. Mar. Fish. Rev. 50, 1–5.
Taquet, M., 1998, The Fish Aggregating Device (FAD): an alternative to the great fishing pressure on reef resources in Martinique. Proc. Gulf Caribb. Fish. Inst. 50, 249-261.
Taquet, M., Guillou, A., Reynal, L., Lagin, A., 2000a, The large pelagic fish of Martinique: biology and exploitation. Proc. Gulf Caribb. Fish. Inst. 51, 375-389.
Taquet, M., Reynal, M., Laurans, M., Lagin, A., 2000b, Blackfin tuna (Thunnus atlanticus) fishing around FADs in Martinique (French West Indies). Aquat. Living Resour. 13, 259-262. CrossRef
Weihs, D., 1973, Mechanically efficient swimming techniques for fish with negative buoyancy. J. Mar. Res. 31, 194-209.
Weill, A., Scalabrin, C., Diner, N., 1993, MOVIES-B: an acoustic detection description software. application to shoal species' classification. Aquat. Living Resour. 6, 255-267. CrossRef