From the President
Season's greetings! As we start the holidays, it is important
to take a moment to reflect on the successes and progress
we have enjoyed together. I invite you to take a moment now and think of your work and how you have contributed toward managing fisheries resources in your part of the world.
As I reflect back over my 40 years of work in underwater acoustics monitoring fisheries and oceanographic resources,
I am amazed by the progress that we have made together.
In 1970, one of my first tasks at the University of Washington Applied Physics Lab was to help develop the first all digital
echo integrator for fisheries assessment. It was based
on a Digital Equipment PDP 8 computer (the size of a small
file cabinet) with processing power like that of the current microprocessor used in the HTI sub-gram tags. Driven by research needs and by using the advances in micro-
electronics and software technology, I later worked on the
as well as the first real-time 3D fish tracking systems using acoustic tags. I have found
a key ingredient to all these advances has been close collaboration with engineers and field biologists who use the equipment to obtain accurate, timely results to manage fisheries resources. Being involved in workshops and conferences around the globe,
we see new technologies come to fruition as a result of the collaboration of engineers
and field biologists, and this has given me a revitalized sense of energy and hope for 2010.
At this time of celebration and reflection throughout the world, please accept my gratitude for continuing to inspire my life's work with your research and ideas. Happy Holidays!
To effectively monitor the behavior of small fish and other aquatic life
(e.g. eels, shrimp, jellyfish), acoustic tags need to be small, and they need to last.
While some studies require only a day's worth of data, others require a season, and
some - years.
Acoustic tag life is driven by battery size, which directly correlates to tag
size.
HTI has been working to increase battery life by 2-3 times in its existing tag sizes.
With
help from USGS in 2009, the new L-series tags (L for long-life) have been tested
and are now research-ready.
tags range from weights of 0.5 to 24.0 grams and
can last from a few days, to several months, to a few years. For the specifics on the new acoustic tags - read more.
New Longer Life Acoustic Tags
with
2-3 Times the Battery Life
Sub-meter 3D Tag Positioning
Track Fish in Real-time or in Post-processing
Remote Access from Anywhere
in the World, even via Smartphones
Hosted by California's Dept. of Water Resources
There is a lot happening in the streams and estuaries of central California. Researchers have tracked juvenile salmon around what appears to be a successful non-physical barrier helping to guide them to the sea. There are many projects tracking fish in this region and many researchers using acoustic tag technology.
To help get researchers all
on the same page, the California Dept. of Water Resources and HTI have teamed up to
host a free biotelemetry workshop Jan. 19-20 in West Sacramento. “We’re looking forward to an informal and highly collaborative workshop, sharing the best insights and software
tips for post-processing large data sets, and methods of simplifying standard tasks," said Bruce Ransom, Senior Fisheries Biologist and Program Manager at HTI. Learn more.
February Acoustic Tag
& Hydroacoustic Short Courses
an acoustic tag workshop in conjunction with the Hydro2009 conference, we began planning for
HTI's February 2010 Seattle short courses.
If you are looking for acoustic tag and hydroacoustic training, this is a great opportunity
to learn what other researchers are doing around the world with
these technologies,
obtain a few software tips and tricks, and learn hands-on.
Agenda for Using Acoustic Tags to Track Fish
4-5 February 2010, Seattle, WA USA
Agenda for Using Hydroacoustics for Fisheries Assessment
11-12 February 2010, Seattle, WA USA
And keep an eye out for new workshop collaborations coming to Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and California! These are open workshops designed to spark collaboration
in an informal environment created for fisheries researchers using acoustic tags. If you’d
like to be notified when workshops are scheduled in your area, send an email and we’ll
keep you posted.
Fisheries research in western Europe continues to make progress refining planning
and methods for dams and hydro plants, and making hydropower energy more efficient, economical, and environmentally sustainable. Major
upgrading programs are underway.
As environmental efforts continue at hydropower dams, leading agencies are learning
about fish behavior using acoustic tags. Plans to accelerate new hydro, storage, and
marine energy
plans (e.g., hydrokinetics for renewable energy) are clearly defined in
many countries.
Included are the environmental protections necessary to move forward.
To hear the insights HTI’s Pat Nealson shared at Hydro2009 click on the video above.
Jobs, came out to do. He joined Chelan County Public Utility District’s (PUD) Fish and Wildlife crew at Rocky Reach Dam last summer where he learned a thing or two about dams and tracking juvenile salmon as part of survival studies, as the
fish find their way to the ocean. He spent a day working
with the PUD crew as they maintained one of the dam’s large
generating units, and later met the PUD’s acoustic tag
manager, David Beardsley, in charge of all acoustic tagging.
| The PUD welcomed the Dirty Jobs crew to show-case the extraordinary effort of employees who keep the machinery running to produce affordable electricity, and the extensive work done to care for the water and fish passing the dam. See some excerpts here. |
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Newly updated AcousticTag Help Files are now available online. When tracking fish tagged with acoustic tags (e.g., monitoring fish behavior in
lakes, open rivers, or at dams) or perhaps distinguishing travel times and survival information - AcousticTag Software Suite
is the best software tool to address your objectives. It is the primary application used
within an HTI Acoustic Tag Tracking
System.
The updated Help File is designed to provide instructions for efficiently operating the AcousticTag (version 4.30) program. Please consult the TagProgrammer and MarkTags help files for detailed information on these applications. The main navigation tool in this update is the searchable Table of Contents.
Help when you need it online or help when you need it over the phone. Our troubleshooting customer service department is ready to assist users. Download the new AcousticTag Help Files.
Revamped
Last fall, the Impulse Calibration Lab was fully renovated and revamped. Fresh paint is nice,
but upgraded equipment is even better.
What is the Calibration Lab? In essence, it’s a large floating barge equipped with advanced hydroacoustic calibration electronics, rotation apparatus, and software. It’s at the ready to fully calibrate split-beam, dual-beam, single-beam transducers and echo sounders from 38 kHz
to 1 MHZ, with either CW or FM slide/chirp
signals.
The Impulse Lab is located in Seattle
on the Lake Washington Ship Canal. If you’d
like to get hydroacoustic equipment calibrated
for spring studies, now is a great
time to schedule it.
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Recent Publications + Recommended Reading |
Three-Dimensional Behavioral Results from Acoustically Tagged Salmon Smolts
Approaching Hydroelectric Dams - Steig, T.W. From proceedings of Hydro 2009,
Lyon, France, 2009.
A Multiple-Release Model to Estimate Route-Specific and Dam Passage Survival
at a Hydroelectric Project - Skalski, J.R., R.A. Buchanan, R.L. Townsend, T.W.
Steig and
S. Hemstrom. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 29:670-679, 2009
Tracey SteigHTI includes a diverse group of fisheries scientists, acousticians, engineers, software designers, technicians, manufacturing and administrative professionals. Over the last
22 years, we’ve built relationships with clients and colleagues
all over the world. Get to know us a little better.
Tracey Steig
Senior Hydroacoustic Engineer
Tracey Steig is one of five founders of HTI. In 1988, he
started out evaluating a submersible traveling screen for
diverting salmon smolts at Rocky Reach Dam. Over the past two decades, he’s conducted research using hydroacoustic echo sounders, acoustic tags, and an assortment of other fisheries tools. Aside from authoring hundreds of reports, publications and presentations, he’s a leading expert on acoustic tag technology. Tracey worked with Chelan County Public Utility District (PUD) to help HTI and the
PUD
pioneer the development and design of HTI’s original
acoustic tags.
Hi Tracey! Where are you originally from? “I grew up in southwestern Washington in Longview. When I was growing
up, Longview was primarily a lumber mill town. During my summers in college, I worked for the log pond pushing
around logs for Weyerhaeuser.”
What do you love about your work? “To be honest, I love
all the aspects of my work. I enjoy the project setup, field
work, data analysis, result reporting, and presentations. I’m
very fortunate to be doing this work.”
What is your favorite fish and why? “Definitely all
salmonids!”
What is something most people don't know that you’ve done? “In grad school, my research included air pollution monitoring which was a lot of climbing smoke stacks to
install monitoring equipment. I even made a trip to the slopes
of Mt. St. Helens about two weeks before it erupted. I was
lucky that we had ran out of time to set up a monitoring
station!”
Tracey, thanks for taking time to share why you love
your job with us.
acoustic echo sounders in
Argentina in the 1980's.
Be the first to know about new acoustic tag and hydroacoustic technologies; see what
other researchers are doing; read fisheries publications hot-off-the-press, and stay in the know with workshops & conferences - via tweets!
Connect with fellow researchers at Twitter.com/HTIsonar.
