Approaches to understanding effects from particle motion and substrate-borne vibration on fishes and invertebrates.

Abstract

There is a growing awareness of the potential impacts of underwater anthropogenic sound on fishes and aquatic invertebrates. However, the current literature provides limited guidance for developing regulations to protect species that are most likely to be affected by such signals. Accordingly, this paper recommends research approaches to best address and understand the effects of anthropogenic particle motion and substrate-borne vibration on fishes and aquatic invertebrates that are of economic and/or ecosystem importance. Three broad perspectives encompass several key research questions. (1) Careful selection of species for study, (2) identification of specific, high-impact research questions that can be addressed and funded within the next several years to inform regulations, and (3) strategic experimental approaches (e.g., laboratory vs field) to maximize useful data. In addition, we identify four general experimental settings that could be used to address these questions.