Development of an acoustic telemetry transmitter for identifying predation events

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Acoustic telemetry is a rapidly expanding and developing method to study the movement and behavior of fish, aquatic reptiles and marine mammals. Acoustic telemetry uses transmitters (i.e. tags), inserted in or on aquatic animals, which are detected by receivers placed in aquatic ecosystem. In additional to increasing our scientific knowledge about aquatic animals, acoustic telemetry has become an important tool when developing effective management plans for aquatic ecosystems and endangered species. One important problem that limits acoustic telemetry is the assumption that the detected acoustic transmitter represents the movements of the originally tagged animal and not the movements of a predator following predation of the tagged animal (i.e. the tag continues transmitting from within the predator's stomach). In studies focused on animals that face a significant risk of predation (e.g. young migrating salmon returning to the ocean), this assumption could lead to erroneous mortality estimates and ultimately infective management of this valuable resource. Vemco, a company focused on the development and manufacturing of acoustic telemetry instruments and technologies, has developed a predation tag that transmits a new and unique code when the originally tagged fish is consumed by another animal; thus identifying predation events. Such a tag could revolutionize acoustic telemetry by allowing researchers to quantify predation rates on study animals. This proposal seeks to optimize and parameterize this predation tag for a range of fish sizes and temperatures through controlled aquarium studies using prey and predator fish.