Application of acoustic technologies to study the temporal and spatial distributions of the Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) in the California Current System

Abstract

Advances in acoustics technologies offer a remote and non-invasive sensing means to conduct fisheries acoustic surveys. Over the past two decades, joint US and Canada acoustic and trawl surveys on Pacific hake (Merluccius productus), one of the most important commercial fisheries off the West Coasts of the United States and Canada, have been conducted at the intervals of one to three years within the California Current System (CCS). In this presentation, the temporal and spatial distributions of Pacific hake resulting from these surveys spanning a period of nearly two decades will be presented. Challenges in converting the measured acoustic quantities to biological quantities, such as abundance and biomass, will be addressed, including uncertainties associated with mixed species, environmental parameters, and properties in fish morphology and anatomy. Issues related to transitions from single-species to ecosystem-based acoustic surveys will also be discussed.