Seismic Surveys Have Little Impact on Demersal Fishes

A large-scale three-year experiment recently quantified the impacts of exposure to a commercial seismic source on an assemblage of tropical demersal fishes targeted by commercial fisheries on the North West Shelf of Western Australia. Monitoring of the composition, abundance, behavior, and movement of the fishes was pursued in multiple before-after-control-impact and dose-response experimental frameworks using acoustic telemetry and underwater video. The multidisciplinary team of scientists, technical staff and industry experts found there were no short-term (days) or long-term (months) effects of exposure on the composition, abundance, size structure, behavior, or movement of this fauna. These multiple lines of evidence suggest that seismic surveys have little impact on demersal fishes in this environment. Elements of results from the published study are summarized and highlighted.