Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6359533 | Marine Pollution Bulletin | 2013 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
Estuaries are increasingly under threat from a variety of human impacts. Recreational and commercial boat traffic in urban areas may represent a significant disturbance to fish populations and have particularly adverse effects in spatially restricted systems such as estuaries. We examined the effects of passing boats on the abundance of different sized fish within the main navigation channel of an estuary using high resolution sonar (DIDSON). Both the smallest (100-300Â mm) and largest (>501Â mm) size classes had no change in their abundance following the passage of boats. However, a decrease in abundance of mid-sized fish (301-500Â mm) occurred following the passage of boats. This displacement may be attributed to a number of factors including noise, bubbles and the rapidly approaching object of the boat itself. In highly urbanised estuarine systems, regular displacement by boat traffic has the potential to have major negative population level effects on fish assemblages.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Oceanography
Authors
Alistair Becker, Alan K. Whitfield, Paul D. Cowley, Johanna Järnegren, Tor F. Næsje,