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In this study, 34 anadromous brown trout (sea trout) Salmo trutta were equipped with acoustic transmitters in order to examine whether they performed avoidance behaviour in response to a CFT Legumin (rotenone) treatment in the Norwegian River Vefsna. Migratory behaviour of the S. trutta was monitored by use of 15 automatic listening stations and manual tracking in the lower part of the river, in the estuary and in the fjord. None of the studied S. trutta survived the rotenone treatment and no indications of successful avoidance behaviour were observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sharks have been shown to benefit from the protection of marine protected areas (MPAs). There is, however, little information on the degree of protection by MPAs to shark populations. The movements of individual smoothhound sharksMustelus mustelusin, and adjacent to, a small (34 km2) no-take MPA (Langebaan Lagoon Marine Protected Area; LMPA) situated on the west coast of South Africa were investigated over two years using acoustic telemetry. Sharks spent the majority of the time (in hours, average 79%) inside the reserve, and some sharks (n= 2 of 15 recorded during a full year) did not leave the reserve during the study period. Time spent inside the LMPA and the number of crossings of its boundary were strongly influenced by season. Sharks concentrated inside the LMPA during summer, whereas they were widely distributed throughout the study area during winter. Six sharks left the Saldanha Bay embayment during spring and winter for durations ranging from two to 156 days (median = 111 days). All returned to the bay within the study period. Individuals recorded over two years showed consistency in behavioural patterns and protection by the LMPA between years, and spent an average of 74% and 80% of the time inside the LMPA during the two study years respectively. The extended residency of smoothhound sharks within the LMPA suggests that no-take area protection may be a viable management option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial dynamics and home range sizes of early juvenile white steenbras (Lithognathus lithognathus Cuvier, 1829) in the permanently open Great Fish Estuary, South Africa, were assessed using acoustic telemetry. Seven individuals (154-184 mm fork length) tagged with acoustic transmitters spent the majority of their time in the mesohaline to oligohaline regions of the estuary, between five and seven kilometres from the mouth. Mean home range size was small (97 399 ± 22 557 m² mean ± S.D.) relative to the size of the estuary (approx. 1 360 000 m2). Mean length of the estuary used by an individual was 1707 m (± S.D. = 1663 m). The fish were highly resident within the estuary, and showed fidelity towards their site of capture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study smolt behaviour and survival of a northern Atlantic salmon Salmo salar population during river descent, sea entry and fjord migration, 120 wild S. salar were tagged with acoustic tags and registered at four automatic listening station arrays in the mouth of the north Norwegian River Alta and throughout the Alta Fjord. An estimated 75% of the post-smolts survived from the river mouth, through the estuary and the first 17 km of the fjord. Survival rates in the fjord varied with fork length ( LF), and ranged from 97·0 to 99·5% km−1. On average, the post-smolts spent 1·5 days (36 h, range 11–365 h) travelling from the river mouth to the last fjord array, 31 km from the river mouth. The migratory speed was slower (1·8 LF s−1) in the first 4 km after sea entry compared with the next 27 km (3·0 LF s−1). Post-smolts entered the fjord more often during the high or ebbing tide (70%). There was no clear diurnal migration pattern within the river and fjord, but most of the post-smolts entered the fjord at night (66%, 2000–0800 hours), despite the 24 h daylight at this latitude. The tidal cycle, wind-induced currents and the smolts' own movements seemed to influence migratory speeds and routes in different parts of the fjord. A large variation in migration patterns, both in the river and fjord, might indicate that individuals in stochastic estuarine and marine environments are exposed to highly variable selection regimes, resulting in different responses to environmental factors on both temporal and spatial scales. Post-smolts in the northern Alta Fjord had similar early marine survival rates to those observed previously in southern fjords; however, fjord residency in the north was shorter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The home range and area use of spotted grunter, Pomadasys commersonnii (Haemulidae) (Lacepède), were investigated in the Great Fish estuary, South Africa. Forty individuals (263–698 mm TL) were surgically implanted with acoustic-coded transmitters and manually tracked during two periods in 2003. Tagged fish spent on average 68 and 77% of the time in the estuary and the remaining time at sea during the two periods, respectively. While in the estuary, there was large variation in home range size, home range length and the number of home range areas amongst individuals. Larger fish had larger home ranges and more core areas than smaller fish. The home ranges of 29 individuals (74%) occurred in the lower reaches of the estuary, suggesting that the proclamation of a no-take zone in this high use area could benefit this over-exploited estuarine fishery species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eight hatchery-reared Atlantic salmon Salmo salar post-smolts, implanted with acoustic depth sensing transmitters and manually tracked for 5–12 h in the Hardangerfjord (Norway), spent most of their time (49–99%) at 1–3 m depth during the day, whereas four of seven fish tracked were found close (<0·5 m) to the surface at night, with a strong negative cross-correlation between general swimming depth and surface light intensity. Hence, the actual swimming depth of post-smolts during their early marine migration may depend on the light conditions, although the individual variation in vertical movement pattern was large. No cross-correlations were found between light intensity and swimming depth during daytime periods with rapid changes in light intensity, indicating that other factors than light intensity were important in initiating the irregular dives that were recorded down to 6·5 m depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial and temporal area-use patterns of estuarinedependent juvenile dusky kob Argyrosomus japonicus in the Great Fish Estuary, South Africa, were examined using acoustic telemetry. In all, 29 individuals (307-400 mm total length) were surgically equipped with individually coded transmitters and monitored for a period of up to 195 days using an array of 11 moored data-logging acoustic receivers. Tagged dusky kob spent most time in the estuary (84%), compared with neighbouring marine (13%) and riverine (4%) environ ments. Tagged fish made extensive use of the estuary from the mouth to between 6.4 km and 10.3 km upstream, and spent approximately equal proportions of time at each of the seven receivers located between 0.5 km and 6.5 km from the mouth. A total of 18 fish undertook sea trips of a mean duration of 3.5 days, whereas three individuals made riverine excursions (mean duration = 7.3 days). A total of 12 (41%) tagged fish was captured in the estuary prior to, during or after the monitoring period. These findings highlight the importance of estuaries as critical nursery areas, and that the use of these habitats by dusky kob should be better reflected in the management arrangements for this fishery species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]