SONUS Fishery (113798)

The SONUS Fishery is a groundbreaking project that aims at replacing bottom contact with low-frequency acoustic signals as the main capture mechanism in demersal trawl fisheries. The intention is to guide fish into the trawl mouth using sound transducers and directional sound signals.

Hydrodynamic transducers will be developed and CFD analysis performed for the purpose of mounting in a trawl mouth. The trawl is lifted off the seabed used together with a semi-pelagic trawl spreading system. Consequently, the physical contact with the seabed will be eliminated. The acoustic signals will be specifically designed to influence target species and the lack of gear contact with the seabed is expected to reduce the catchability of unwanted catch.

DTU Aqua will test the effect of the designed acoustic signals on live fish under controlled conditions to identify any need for adjustments and quantify the signals' capacity to influence fish distribution.

Funding
The project is co-funded by the European Union through the Danish Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Programme (EMFAF).

Research area: Fisheries Technology
Research area: Marine Populations and Ecosystem Dynamics