Fisheries Research Articles
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-19-2021
Journal Title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
ISSN
Print: 0027-8424 Electronic: 1091-6490
Disciplines
Aquaculture and Fisheries | Marine Biology
Abstract
Seismic surveys are used to locate oil and gas reserves below the seabed and can be a major source of noise in marine environments. Their effects on commercial fisheries are a subject of debate, with experimental studies often producing results that are difficult to interpret. We overcame these issues in a large-scale experiment that quantified the impacts of exposure to a commercial seismic source on an assemblage of tropical demersal fishes targeted by commercial fisheries on the North West Shelf of Western Australia. We show that there were no short-term (days) or long-term (months) effects of exposure on the composition, abundance, size structure, behavior, or movement of this fauna. These multiple lines of evidence suggest that seismic surveys have little impact on demersal fishes in this environment.
Recommended Citation
Meekan, M G,
Speed, C W,
McCauley, R D,
Fisher, R,
Birt, M J,
Currey-Randall, L M,
Semmens, J M,
Newman, S J,
Cure, K,
Stowar, M,
Vaughan, B,
and
Parsons, M J.
(2021), A large-scale experiment finds no evidence that a seismic survey impacts a demersal fish fauna. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 118 (30), e2100869118.
https://library.dpird.wa.gov.au/fr_fja/270
