• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
• /
• v.39 no.2
• /
• pp.92-98
• /
• 2003

The quantification of fish school abundance was carried out by using luminance of pixel on scanning sonar image, and compared with the indices of fish school abundance e.g. school number, school area and weighted school area. The survey was carried out in Funka Bay off southern Hokkaido, Japan using research vessel Ushio-Maru during December 1999. A 180-degree scanning sonar with a frequency of 164kHz was used. The school number was counted both left and right 40-degree radial lines from the center of own vessel mark on a scanning image. The school area was measured approximately as an ellipse from the school length and width. The weighted school area was calculated by multiplying school area and average value of inner pixel luminance. A quantification of pixel luminance was also measured to integrate squared pixel luminance value on these lines. Fish school and school bottom were discriminated by the produced sonar echogram using pixel luminance value on these lines. The relationships between the quantified luminance value and other abundance indices such as school area and weighted school area revealed a good correlation. Therefore, the quantified luminance is a useful method in estimating fish school abundance in the acoustic survey using sonar.