Behavioural responses of wild, spawning Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) to seismic airgun exposure

Abstract

Seismic airgun surveys to map petroleum deposits in the seabed may impact behaviour of marine animals over large distances. Understanding whether fish spawning behaviour is affected by this anthropogenic noise source is important because reproductive success may be impacted. The fine-scale behavioural responses of Atlantic cod to airgun exposure over an extended period were investigated using an acoustic telemetry positioning system on a spawning ground in Norway. During 2019 to 2021, 135 spawning cod were equipped with telemetry sensor tags and were exposed to airgun shooting during the spawning periods of 2020 and 2021, with varying received sound levels comparable to a full-scale survey at distances of 5 to >40 km. Cod demonstrated only weak responses to the disturbance from repeated 3-h treatment periods over 5-d, swimming on average slightly deeper during seismic exposure compared to silent control periods. This response varied between individuals. Longer-term effects of seismic exposure on swimming depth were not detected. No changes in swimming acceleration, displacement, or area use occurred. These results suggest that relatively distant seismic surveys do not substantially alter cod behaviour during the spawning period at received sound exposure levels varying between 115 and 145 dB re 1 mu Pa(2)s over a 5-d period.

Keywords

acoustic telemetry; anthropogenic noise; coastal cod; fish; home range; positioning system; reproduction; seismic surveys; sensor tags; spawning

Published in

ICES Journal of Marine Science
2023, volume: 80, number: 4, pages: 1052-1065
Publisher: OXFORD UNIV PRESS

SLU Authors

• Nyqvist, Daniel

  • Politecnico di Torino

UKÄ Subject classification

Fish and Aquacultural Science
Behavioral Sciences Biology

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsad032

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/139647