Menhaden 



Research: 



Echoes 



of a Fishery 



By Ann Green 



Photographs by Scott D. Taylor 



I t's almost dusk when North Carolina Sea 

 Grant researcher Chris Taylor anchors an old 

 white research boat in the middle of the Neuse 

 River. 



As several seagulls flutter over the boat, 

 Taylor drops a brown metal cylinder, similar 

 to a fish finder, deep into the water. 



Within a fraction of a second, he can 

 pinpoint every school of tiny menhaden and 

 anchovies within 90 feet of the boat. Pings 

 from the cylinder pierce through the water and 

 echo back the exact location in the water 

 column, target size and behavioral information 

 to Taylor's computer. 



This is the first time researchers have 

 used the cylinder — a scientific echosounder 

 based on technology developed by the U.S. 

 Navy during World War II — in a North 

 Carolina estuary to conduct a biological study. 



"The use of hydroacoustics could provide 

 a reliable method for estimating the number of 

 pelagic fish in the estuary," says lead 

 researcher Pete Rand, assistant professor at 

 North Carolina State University. "Stock 

 assessments for menhaden rely almost entirely 

 on commercial landings data. Our approach 

 could provide a less-biased method for 

 estimating population size." 



Through monthly sampling of Adantic 



