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Do pingers cause stress in fish? An experimental tank study with European sardine, Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum, 1792) (Actinopterygii, Clupeidae), exposed to a 70 kHz dolphin pinger

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Abstract

Acoustic deterrent devices (pingers) that are designed to alert marine mammals to the presence of fishing gear have been successfully employed to reduce cetacean–fishery interactions. However, pinger sounds may affect fisheries target species: noise can induce short-term stress responses in fish that are reflected in increased blood cortisol concentrations and behavioural alterations, which may ultimately result in reduced catch rates. In order to test this hypothesis, the present study analyses the hormonal and behavioural stress response of European sardine (Sardina pilchardus) to a commercially available pinger—the 70 kHz dolphin pinger. The responses of wild captive fish to the pinger sounds were tested in tank experiments, measuring the stress level of fish by analysing blood plasma cortisol concentration and swimming behaviour. Mixed effect models were used for statistical analysis. During the experiments, pinger sounds caused subtle, but significant elevations in sardine plasma cortisol concentration and fish school compaction. However, when compared to the rates of increase reported for acute stress responses in similar studies, the observed increment was very small. This suggests that the sounds of the trialled pinger are not likely to significantly alter sardine behaviour and should consequently not have any negative impact on sardine catch rates.

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Notes

  1. Council Regulation (EC) 812/2004 of 26 April 2004 laying down measures concerning incidental catches of cetaceans in fisheries and amending Regulation (EC) 88/98.

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Acknowledgments

The study was funded by the Portuguese Ministry of Science (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia– FCT) through a PhD Grant of SG (SFRH/BD/47931/2008). We would like to thank the captain of the purse-seiner (José Manuel Saveedra) and his crew for facilitating the capture and transport of live fish. Moreover, we want to thank Ana Marçalo for suggestions on the experimental design, Manuel Garci for technical advice on underwater video recordings and James Turner from the company Future Oceans for providing technical details on the 70 kHz dolphin pingers. We would also like to acknowledge the scientific advice of Dr. José Iglesias and the technical and logistic support for the preparation of the laboratory and the materials for tank experiments by Enrique Martínez González, Ricardo Pazó and other staff at the aquaculture facilities of the Spanish Institute for Oceanography (IEO) and the Marine Sciences Station of Toralla (ECIMAT) in Vigo. Furthermore, we are grateful to Francisco de la Granda Grandoso for his practical assistance during the fish tank experiments and to Juan Santos Blanco for helping with statistical analysis. Finally, we would like to thank Pilar Riobó Agula, Amelia Fernandez Villamarin, José Franco Soler, José Luis Muñoz, Angela Benedetti, Marcos Antonio Lopez Patiño and Marta Conde Sieira for scientific advice and practical support with cortisol analysis and Rosana Rodríguez for preparing histological samples for us.

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  1. Sabine Goetz

    Present address: Thünen-Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries, Alter Hafen Süd 2, 18069, Rostock, Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Estudos do Ambiente e do Mar (CESAM), Universidade de Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Sabine Goetz & Graham John Pierce

  2. Centro Oceanográfico de Vigo, Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Subida a Radio Faro 50, 36390, Vigo, Pontevedra, Spain

    M. Begoña Santos

  3. Departamento de Biologia, Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    José Vingada

  4. Estación de Ciencias Mariñas de Toralla (ECIMAT), Universidade de Vigo, Illa de Toralla s/n, 36331, Vigo, Spain

    Damián Costas Costas & Antonio González Villanueva

  5. School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Zoology Building, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK

    Graham John Pierce

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Goetz, S., Santos, M.B., Vingada, J. et al. Do pingers cause stress in fish? An experimental tank study with European sardine, Sardina pilchardus (Walbaum, 1792) (Actinopterygii, Clupeidae), exposed to a 70 kHz dolphin pinger. Hydrobiologia 749, 83–96 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-2147-3

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