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Geolocation of free-ranging fish on the European continental shelf as determined from environmental variables

I. Tidal location method

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Abstract

Demersal fish cannot readily be tracked using satellite-based or light-based geolocation techniques. As an alternative, we describe the tidal location method, which uses tidal data recorded by electronic data storage tags (DSTs), to determine geoposition. Times of high water (H) and tidal ranges (R) recorded by DSTs moored at known locations, and from free-swimming tagged plaice, Pleuronectes platessa, were compared with a North Sea tidal database to identify all positions with matching values of H and R. Within the recording precision of the tag (±0.2 m, ±10 min) and the predicted accuracy of the model generated tidal data (±0.15 m, ±20 min), geolocations over much of the North Sea and eastern English Channel were predicted to be accurate to within 40 km, sometimes to within 10 km. Positional estimates of the moored tags were within 15.7±3.5 km of the actual locations. Geolocations made from tagged plaice within 5 days of release and 5 days pre-recapture were within 35±24 km and 37±23 km of release and recapture positions respectively. Our results demonstrate the ability of this method to accurately describe the migrations of North Sea plaice throughout their geographical range with a level of accuracy unattainable using light-based geolocation. The method could equally be applied to any shelf-dwelling demersal fish that periodically rests on the sea-bed for the duration of a tidal cycle. In fisheries management, the method has clear potential application in defining the movements and migrations of other commercial species.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank David Righton for the provision of static-rig DST data and sine-wave analysis software, Bob Turner for field assistance with the release of DST-tagged plaice, Daniel Gadd for statistical advice, and David Riches for supplementary graphics. The release of DST-tagged plaice was funded by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (formerly MAFF), and the Commission of European Communities Agriculture and Fisheries (FAIR) specific RTD programme, PL96–2079, "Migration, distribution and spatial dynamics of plaice and sole in the North Sea and adjacent areas". It does not necessarily reflect their views and in no way anticipates the Commission's future policy in this area. Two anonymous referees made valuable contributions to the final version of the manuscript. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Bruce Holford who played an important role in the development of many of the ideas and methods described in this work.

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  1. Centre for Environment Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR33 0HT, UK

    E. Hunter, J. N. Aldridge, J. D. Metcalfe & G. P. Arnold

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  1. E. Hunter
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  2. J. N. Aldridge
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  3. J. D. Metcalfe
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  4. G. P. Arnold
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Correspondence to E. Hunter.

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Communicated by J.P. Thorpe, Port Erin

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Hunter, E., Aldridge, J.N., Metcalfe, J.D. et al. Geolocation of free-ranging fish on the European continental shelf as determined from environmental variables. Marine Biology 142, 601–609 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-002-0984-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-002-0984-5

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