Training Fish to Catch Themselves

[Charlie99]

It's not dive-related, but just something a bit weird that caught my attention in this morning's New Bedford Standard Times newspaper. There is an article about a consumer advocacy group suing the US Army Corps of Engineers over a study underway in Buzzards Bay. Apparently, they are seeing if black sea bass can be trained to enter a dome shaped structure upon hearing a 280Hz tone -- upon which they can either be fed or collected.

Here's some background:

SouthCoastToday.com: Scientists test use of sound to entice fish to catch themselves

Consumer group sues over Pavlov’s fish experiment - BostonHerald.com

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,341649,00.html

Now if I can just perfect my underwater whistling .......

 

[dpbishop]

I was abalone diving with a buddy back in the 70's when we chanced across a big Cabazon. He didn't have a spear, so he opened his goody bag and rapped the fish on the nose. It charged right into the bag. Didn't have to train it.

 

[goldenbear01]

i'm not an expert in any way, but i thought that it's a bad idea to have farm-raised fish near open oceans? doesn't it lead to several problems like diseases spreading from the farm-raised fish into the open ocean fish stock? isn't that one of the lessons learned from the farm-raised salmon industry?

 

[OceanObsessed]

I wonder if one of those 280Hz tone generators would attatch to the end of my speargun?

 

[Charlie99]

i'm not an expert in any way, but i thought that it's a bad idea to have farm-raised fish near open oceans? doesn't it lead to several problems like diseases spreading from the farm-raised fish into the open ocean fish stock? isn't that one of the lessons learned from the farm-raised salmon industry?

An additional concern, raised by the group suing to stop the experiment, is the effect on genetic diversity of the wild population.

Genetic contamination / genetic dilution is a hot topic in the Norway farmed salmon industry.