2002 Tasmanian Blue Grenadier Spawning Acoustic Survey

38kHz Simrad ES60 acoustic data collected during commercial fishing for spawning blue grenadier off the Tasmanian west coast in 2002. The data was gathered by the factory freezer vessel FV Ocean Dawn as part of an FRDC project and is held by CSIRO Marine Science Acoustic Group.

Use Cases

• Analyze 38kHz acoustic backscatter from ES60 .raw files to study blue grenadier spawning aggregation density
• Correlate acoustic data with GPS coordinates embedded in ES60 files to map fish distribution relative to trawl locations
• Integrate acoustic signals with complementary AFMA observer biological data on species, length, weight, sex, and stage for biomass estimation

Strengths

• Data originates from a structured scientific project funded by FRDC involving multiple factory freezer vessels
• Includes complementary datasets from vessels FV Aoraki and FV Petersen for the 2002 season, enabling comparative analysis
• Managed and held by the authoritative CSIRO Marine Science Acoustic Group in Hobart

Limitations

• No cruise track or digitized echogram data is available, limiting spatial visualization
• The provided cruise dates represent only a subset of the full voyage, with actual start/end dates unknown
• Sample data, row counts, and file formats are unspecified, complicating initial assessment

Provenance

Source

CSIRO Marlin Data Catalogue

Collection Method

Acoustic data collected by Simrad ES60 echosounder during commercial fishing operations, with additional biological data recorded by AFMA observers and ship officers.

Time Range

2002 fishing season

Freshness

null

Geography

Tasmanian west coast, Australia