Fish Behaviour in Exploited Ecosystems

Abstract

The second ICES Symposium on fish behaviour, entitled ‘‘Fish Behaviour in Exploited Ecosystems’’, was held from 23 to 26 June 2003 in Bergen, Norway, and co-convened by Asmund Bjordal (Norway) and Dr Stephen J. Walsh (Canada). The scope of the Symposium was restricted to marine finfish, and the programme was organized according to five theme sessions. The response to announcements was overwhelming, with 159 titles submitted, and of these, 56 oral presentations and 49 posters were selected for the Symposium. In addition, there were four keynote addresses. The Symposium attracted 180 participants from 31 countries. This volume contains the papers submitted, reviewed, and accepted for publication. The first ICES Symposium on fish behaviour was entitled ‘‘Fish Behaviour in Relation to Fishing Operations’’ and was also held in Bergen, in 1992 (Wardle and Hollingworth, 1993). After this meeting, fish behaviour became a common topic for the joint sessions of both Working Groups of the ICES Fisheries Technology Committee. The ICES Working Group on Fisheries Acoustics Science and Technology, and the ICESeFAO Working Group on Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour, have included in their remit that fish behaviour is widely recognized to be one of the most important sources of bias in acoustic and bottom-trawl surveys, as well as in fishing operations for marine finfish and shellfish. The Working Group on Fishing Technology and Fish Behaviour also recognized that detailed knowledge of fish behaviour was needed for developing fishing technology to meet the requirements of responsible fishing with regard to selectivity, by-catch reduction, survival of non-target species, and conservation of biodiversity in an ecosystem approach to fisheries management. Since the 1992 Symposium, progress in the study of fish behaviour has accelerated owing to the use of emerging technologies, such as underwater video cameras, telemetry, and acoustic tags, acoustic hydrophone arrays, remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles, multibeam sonars, and scanning laser systems. These technologies,