A global review of the spatial, taxonomic and temporal scope of freshwater fisheries hydroacoustic studies and an investigation into the measurement of within- and between-season fish population fluctuations in a boreal reservoir

Pollom, Riley (2015) A global review of the spatial, taxonomic and temporal scope of freshwater fisheries hydroacoustic studies and an investigation into the measurement of within- and between-season fish population fluctuations in a boreal reservoir. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Hydroacoustics for studying fisheries ecosystems has been developed and improved upon since the practice was first used in the inter-war era, with observational and analytical approaches constantly being adapted for a better understanding of aquatic environments. Recently the application has been gaining popularity for use in freshwater ecosystems, improving the study of lakes, reservoirs and rivers. This thesis aims to advance freshwater hydroacoustics by testing size-based approaches for assessing the status of Lac du Bonnet, a boreal reservoir in Manitoba, Canada. There, 11 systematic acoustic surveys were conducted in order to determine fish abundance and changes in that abundance over two summers in 2011 and 2012. This technique shed light on aquatic ecosystem dynamics, namely within-season fish mortality and recruitment variability between two years. A global ecological review of the scope of freshwater fisheries hydroacoustics was first undertaken in order to determine the spatial, temporal, and taxonomic research gaps that must be addressed if a thorough understanding of global freshwater systems is to be obtained through hydroacoustics. This review provides guidance for the implementation and improvement of the size-based techniques elaborated on later.

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