The sources and prevalence of anthropogenic noise in Rockfish Conservation Areas with implications for marine reserve planning

Katrina Nikolich; William D Halliday; Matthew K Pine; Kieran Cox; Morgan Black; Corey Morris; Francis Juanes

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112017

The sources and prevalence of anthropogenic noise in Rockfish Conservation Areas with implications for marine reserve planning

Mar Pollut Bull. 2021 Mar:164:112017. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112017. Epub 2021 Jan 28.

Authors

Katrina Nikolich¹, William D Halliday², Matthew K Pine³, Kieran Cox⁴, Morgan Black⁴, Corey Morris⁵, Francis Juanes³

Affiliations

¹ Fisheries Ecology and Marine Conservation Laboratory, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Electronic address: katrinan@uvic.ca.
² Fisheries Ecology and Marine Conservation Laboratory, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; Wildlife Conservation Society Canada, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
³ Fisheries Ecology and Marine Conservation Laboratory, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
⁴ Fisheries Ecology and Marine Conservation Laboratory, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; Hakai Institute, Calvert Island, British Columbia, Canada.
⁵ Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Centre, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.

PMID: 33517084
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112017

Abstract

Underwater noise pollution is a recognized threat to marine life. In British Columbia, Canada, Pacific rockfish (Sebastes spp.) were historically overfished, prompting the establishment of Rockfish Conservation Areas (RCAs). However, there are no restrictions prohibiting vessel transits in RCAs. We hypothesized that RCAs do not protect rockfish from sub-lethal harm from noise. We compared noise levels at three RCAs with adjacent unprotected reference sites from August 2018-June 2019. While RCAs had lower levels of noise overall than reference sites, this trend was inconsistent; some RCA sites had higher levels of noise during certain time periods than non-RCA sites. A vessel noise detector was the best predictor of noise level over three frequency bands (20-100 Hz, 100-1000 Hz, 1-10 kHz), and predicted sound levels which could mask rockfish communication. We conclude that RCAs do not reliably protect rockfish from noise pollution, and recommend further study into potential impacts on stock recovery.

Keywords: Communication masking; Marine reserve; Noise pollution; Northeast Pacific; Rockfish; Sebastes.

MeSH terms

Animals
Bass*
British Columbia
Noise / adverse effects
Perciformes*
Prevalence