Lyle L. Britt | USGS Science

USGS2021

Artificial lights with different spectra do not alter detrimental attraction of young Chinook salmon and sockeye salmon along lake shorelines

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is common in lakes with developed shorelines, especially prevalent in the nearshore areas where juvenile fishes, including salmonids, are present. One concern is that fishes may be attracted to ALAN and become more vulnerable to predators. The use of longer wavelength lights has been suggested to reduce the effects of ALAN; however, the response in juvenile salmonids is not well known. We tested the hypothesis that longer wavelength lights would attract fewer subyearling Chinook salmon ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) and sockeye salmon ( O. nerka ) than shorter wavelength lights. Test lights included 4 LED lights, an incandescent light, and a high-pressure sodium light (HPS). In total, 13 experimental trials were conducted in 2017 and 2018, and in total 1769 Chinook salmon and 870 sockeye salmon were collected with beach seines. The mean catch rate (number per beach seine set) of subyearling salmonids was 51.0 for lighted treatments but only 6.6 for control treatments (no light). In both years, we did not find any significant difference in catch rates for either species between either of the longer wavelength lights (red-filter and yellow-filter LED lights) and other lights, and thus we rejected the hypothesis that longer wavelength light would attract fewer subyearling salmonids. For these early life stages of salmon in shallow shoreline habitats, reducing the intensity of light present is likely more important than altering the spectral composition when trying to minimize maladaptive attraction to ALAN.

Washington↗

USGS2021

Using bottom trawls to monitor subsurface water clarity in marine ecosystems

Biophysical processes that affect subsurface water clarity play a key role in ecosystem function. However, subsurface water clarity is poorly monitored in marine ecosystems because doing so requires in-situ sampling that is logistically difficult to conduct and sustain. Novel solutions are thus needed to improve monitoring of subsurface water clarity. To that end, we developed a sampling method and data processing algorithm that enable the use of bottom trawl fishing gear as a platform for conducting subsurface water clarity monitoring using trawl-mounted irradiance sensors without disruption to fishing operations. The algorithm applies quality control checks to irradiance measurements and calculates the downwelling diffuse attenuation coefficient, K d , and optical depth, ζ – apparent optical properties (AOPs) that characterize the rate of decrease in downwelling irradiance and relative irradiance transmission to depth, respectively. We applied our algorithm to irradiance measurements, obtained using bottom-trawl-mounted archival tags equipped with a photodiode collected during NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center annual summer bottom trawl surveys of the eastern Bering Sea continental shelf from 2004 to 2018. We validated our AOPs by quantitatively comparing surface-weighted K d from tags to the multi-sensor K d (490) product from the Ocean Colour Climate Change Initiative project (OC-CCI) and qualitatively evaluating whether tag K d was consistent with patterns of subsurface chlorophyll-a concentrations predicted by a coupled regional physical-biological model (Bering10K-BESTNPZ). We additionally examined patterns and trends in water clarity in the eastern Bering Sea. Key findings are: 1) water clarity decreased significantly from 2004 to 2018; 2) a recurrent, pycnocline-associated, maximum in K d occurred over much of the northwestern shelf, putatively due to a subsurface chlorophyll maximum; and 3) a turbid bottom layer (nepheloid layer) was present over a large portion of the eastern Bering Sea shelf. Our study demonstrates that bottom trawls can provide a useful platform for monitoring water clarity, especially when trawling is conducted as part of a systematic stock assessment survey.

Alaska↗