Hearing and Acoustic Behavior: Basic and Applied Considerations

Abstract

Over the past several decades, two different groups of investigators have been involved with fish bioacoustics but with only marginal interaction and cross- fertilization of findings and ideas between them. One group has been trying to understand the basic biology of fish hearing and vestibular system and lateral line function as well as orientation, sound production, acoustic communication, and the acoustic ecology of fishes (see Fay and Edds-Walton, Chapter 3; Bass and Ladich, Chapter 8; Braun and Grande, Chapter 4; Rogers and Zeddies, Chapter 7). The other group, with more applied needs and interests, has sought to use sound and hydrodynamic phenomena for applications in fisheries science (see Mann, Hawkins, and Jech, Chapter 9). Besides the ubiquitous use of various kinds of sonar in fisheries, a topic that is not considered here (but see Mann, Hawkins, and Jech, Chapter 9), a frequent goal of these applications has been to use sound and other hydromechanical stimuli to influence or control fish behavior. Often the objective is to restrict or otherwise alter the local distributions of the fish in a given industry-influenced environment. Although there have been some attempts to bring the ideas and findings of the two separate groups together (e.g., Popper and Carlson 1998), this has not been done extensively. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a broad overview of the findings and issues of these two research communities and to provide a context for sharing ideas and efforts. The intent is to provide some insights that may facil- itate the work of both groups of investigators and to encourage collaboration between them. The chapter is divided into three parts. The first considers some basic aspects of fish hearing that are most germane to applied issues that are discussed later in the chapter. For a more detailed discussion of the fish auditory system, readers are referred to other chapters in this volume as well as to recent reviews (e.g., Popper and Fay 1999; Popper et al. 2003; Ladich and Popper 2004). Detailed discussions of fish hearing capabilities are presented in Fay and Megela Simmons (1999) and of fish sound localization in Fay (2005). The second part of the chapter considers the efforts that have been made to use sound and other hydromechanical sensory stimuli, including flows and turbulence, to control local fish distributions, primarily to reduce the harm of human activities for fishes. This material has been reviewed in greater detail by Popper and Carlson (1998). Finally, the chapter addresses the ways in which anthropogenic sounds from human activities ranging from shipping and construction noise to mineral explo- ration and seismic geology studies, offshore wind farms, and sonar may affect fish.