Echosounder settings and calibration parameters for New Zealand fishing vessels, 2009–2022

At WG-SAM-2022, the Working Group requested further documentation on the acoustic instruments used and the aim of the acoustic component of the Ross Sea shelf survey and suggested presenting the acoustic monitoring plan at WG-ASAM-2023. This paper presents information on acoustic instruments and echosounder settings used by the three New Zealand fishing vessels in the Ross Sea. This paper also presents the aim of the acoustic component for data collection in the Ross Sea, both in the commercial fishery and during the Ross Sea shelf survey, which includes several potential uses for opportunistically collected acoustic data. We recommend that vessel echosounders are calibrated; every second year at a minimum; if suspected damage to the echosounder has occurred, if the vessel has been in dry dock since the last calibration, or new echosounders are installed; and that the suggested data collection protocols are used. We welcome input from the Working Group on these procedures for the use of opportunistically collected acoustic data.