Advances in Hydroacoustic Assessment of Fish Populations Using Fixed Location Techniques

In this symposium, we highlight innovative techniques using fixed (stationary) hydroacoustic technologies to assess or monitor fish stocks in marine, lake, and riverine environments.  Fixed hydroacoustic techniques are often the only way to obtain inseason escapement estimates for migratory fish stocks in rivers that are too wide for weir structures and too occluded for visual observations.  These techniques are also being used increasingly to assess the outmigration of juvenile fish from riverine habitats.  Fixed hydroacoustic techniques are also becoming a standard technique for evaluating the impacts of hydrokinetic turbines on fish in both tidal and riverine environments.   Use of hydroacoustic assessment techniques in rivers, lakes, and oceans continues to grow throughout the world as sonar technology and analytical methods for these applications continue to evolve and improve.    There have been significant advances in acoustic technology recently and hydroacoustic programs are emerging as some of the most powerful tools for assessing both healthy and endangered stocks of fish.