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Researchers at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) in Port Aransas are taking a cue from bats and dolphins in their new fisheries research project – using acoustics! Similar to echolocation, scientists are using underwater sounds to find, count, and understand the behavior of sportfish in Texas bays. The Coastal Fisheries Research Program (CFRP) uses an assortment of advanced acoustic equipment to study the spawning activity, productivity, and resilience of redfish, spotted seatrout, groupers, and other popular gamefishes. We seek to answer the questions of how environmental conditions and seasonality affect fish abundance and spatial distribution over time, and how these factors influence the size spectra of the fish community, especially as we recover from Hurricane Harvey. Will you help us maintain the vitality of the Texas coast by supporting this important research?
How are we doing it?
Our ongoing research projects combine cutting-edge acoustic techniques to find, count, and hear fish. Our first method, active acoustics, utilizes an ek80 EchoSounder in which a transducer system emits soundwaves and measures the return echoes to find and count fish. Active acoustic surveys take place twice a month in the Aransas Channel, an inlet between the Gulf of Mexico and local waters and a hotspot for sport fish spawning. Our second method, passive acoustics, involves strategically placing hydrophones throughout the local channels and bays in order to hear drum fish (red drum, black drum, spotted seatrout) spawning activities. By tracking fish spawning, we are able to learn more about their resilience to disturbance and environmental changes.
These acoustic techniques allow us to monitor local sport fish populations in and around Port Aransas and their response to seasonal changes, local ship traffic, coastal development, and extreme weather events. Results of this research will benefit management and conservation efforts that focus on the most important coastal fish species. This work will allow us to better understand the productivity and seasonality of sport fish populations and how they respond to fishing and changes in the environment.
Why?
We are passionate about science and the health of coastal ecosystems and fisheries in Texas, so we want to share that enthusiasm with the people that rely, benefit and enjoy the resources these areas provide. Our program combines advanced acoustic technologies and cooperative research with local anglers to assess and monitor sport fishes that support the most important recreational fisheries in the Coastal Bend and whose habitats are sensitive to environmental conditions and disruption.
We have the unique opportunity to forge new and rewarding relationships between UTMSI and the surrounding community through our research. Collaborations between fishers and fisheries researchers are not only important to foster stewardship and conservation of our natural resources, but these relationships also help maintain the vitality of the South Texas coast.
Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Port Aransas, and thus everyone will benefit from working together to understand the effects of the hurricane on fish and the marine environment to restore and maintain the beautiful and productive Texas coast that we love. This research will allow graduate students to improve the quality of their data and increase the impact of their work.
UTMSI is recovering from Hurricane Harvey as are the surrounding coastal waters. What better way to document conditions after a storm than by showing the vitality and sustainability of Texas sportfish led by UT scientists and students.
How you can help:
HornRaiser funds are needed to support CRFP’s cooperative fisheries research with local anglers and charter fishers to conduct the science needed to help maintain our thriving fisheries resources. Funds will support hiring fishermen to participate in the research, purchasing research supplies and materials for fieldwork, and maintaining the CFRP Research Vessel named the Cynoscion. HornRaiser funds will also be used to increase the frequency and number of surveys to monitor the effects that Hurricane Harvey had on regional sportfish populations.
Thank you for keeping our Texas coastline vibrant and sustainable for future generations!
Your contribution will provide us with the proper gear for gonad sampling trips. We work with local anglers to find the best spots for sampling, which we use to assess egg production during the spawning season. These sampling trips allow us to learn about fish behavior and locations from fishers, and teach fishers how to take scientific samples. Fishers enhance our work and are integral to our research.
Each hydroacoustic survey costs $100. Your support ensures that we will be able to go out and conduct an extensive survey of the Aransas Channel using our state-of-the-art Echosounder.
Your gift allows us to engage our local fishing community in our research. $500 will provide our program with one day on the water with a local fishing guide, where we can gather reproductive samples for histology and otoliths (fish ear bones) used for aging.
Your contribution will help buy an underwater microphone, the most important part of a hydrophone. The microphone itself is covered in antifouling paint, attached to a sophisticated computer in an airtight canister, and set to record for one minute every ten minutes. This allows us to listen in on spawning activity throughout the bays and channels surrounding Port Aransas. Our lab will send you a personalized, signed postcard thanking you for your generous gift.
Your generous gift will provide us with one fully funded year of hydroacoustic surveys! Our lab is happy to send you a personalized postcard and add your name to our list of donors on our website.
Your generous gift will allow us to conduct hydroacoustic surveys for two entire years. This allows for our research to be robust, long term, and financially secure – every scientist’s dream! On your next trip to Port Aransas, please join us for a boat trip.
