{"id":566,"date":"2019-03-18T01:11:43","date_gmt":"2019-03-18T01:11:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/?p=566"},"modified":"2023-07-25T13:38:01","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T17:38:01","slug":"can-fish-compete-with-man-made-noise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/can-fish-compete-with-man-made-noise\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Fish Compete with Man-Made Noise?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>For the Oyster Toadfish, Boat Noise Impacts Communication<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Research Need<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Lots of things, both natural and man-made, create noise underwater: waves, marine life, shipping traffic and, yes, sport-fishing boats. All these things can make it tough for a fish to perceive predators or prey, communicate, and interpret the surrounding environment, particularly at a distance. As man-made underwater sound increases in many places, it is important to understand the potential impacts of such sounds on marine and freshwater fishes at the individual and population level \u2014 and on their acoustic habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What did they study?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/03\/HLS-mirabilio-and-toadfishIMG_3646.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/hooklinescience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2019\/03\/HLS-mirabilio-and-toadfishIMG_3646.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-569\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Researchers conducted nighttime field playback experiments to test for the ability of oyster toadfish (<em>Opsanus tau<\/em>) to respond to and overcome man-made and natural sounds. Fish \u201cdens\u201d \u2014 cement block shelters \u2014 were established so toadfish would take up residence at a noisy site (Newport River) and quiet site (Jarret Bay), locations where researchers then could record fish vocalizations. The noisy site had high levels of observed boat activity (over 100 vessels per day), while the quiet site had low levels of boat activity (less than 25 vessels per day).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The research team also observed responses from fish after the team played recordings of six types of sound (snapping shrimp, inboard vessel motor, outboard vessel motor, low- and high-frequency bottlenose dolphin sounds, and inboard vessel motor noise in combination with low-frequency dolphin sounds). Hydrophones \u2014 underwater microphones \u2014 measured fish vocalizations. Researchers repeatedly compared the average strength of the vocalizations before, during, and after the playback periods to ensure their findings were scientifically rigorous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What did they find?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Fish may compensate for a noisy underwater environment by amplifying their vocalizations (what researchers call \u201cthe Lombard effect\u201d) and by altered call rates. When experiencing vessel noise alone, oyster toadfish increased vocalizations by an average of 8.5 decibels (dB); however, most vessels passing the dens increased peak ambient noise levels by 14.6 dB. In a busy vessel channel, oyster toadfish may be unable to effectively compensate for the increased noise. When researchers introduced the sound of dolphins \u2014 a natural predator \u2014 oyster toadfish decreased their calling rates, and they stopped calling altogether when the dolphin sounds accompanied vessel noises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What else did they find?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Oyster toadfish near a busy boat channel have lower reproductive success, producing fewer embryos than toadfish with nesting sites in quiet areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reading<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Luczkovich, J.J., Krahforst, C.S, Kelly, K.E., and Sprague, M.W.&nbsp; (2016).&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/asa.scitation.org\/doi\/10.1121\/2.0000340\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\u201cThe Lombard effect in fishes: How boat noise impacts oyster toadfish vocalization amplitudes in natural experiments.\u201d<\/a> <em>Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics<\/em>, Vol. 27, 010035.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Summary compiled by Sara Mirabilio<\/em><br><em>Lead photo: oyster toadfish, courtesy of NOAA<br>Side&nbsp;<\/em><i>photo: Sara Mirabilio, North Carolina Sea Grant fisheries extension specialist, with oyster toadfish in hand<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The text from <em>Hook, Line &amp; Science&nbsp;<\/em>is available to reprint and republish at no cost with this attribution: <em>Hook, Line &amp; Science<\/em>, courtesy of Scott Baker and Sara Mirabilio, North Carolina Sea Grant. <em>HookLineScience.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the oyster toadfish, boat noise impacts communication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":567,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1],"tags":[],"displayCategory":null,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Can Fish Compete with Man-Made Noise? 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