The Twelfth Annual Meeting of the Asian Fisheries Acoustics Society (AFAS) was held November 13-15 in Jeju, South Korea. The event was well attended by more than 100 fisheries acoustics experts from throughout Asia, and featured a number of talks citing the use of BioSonics echosounders for fisheries and aquatic habitat assessment. Exhibitors included BioSonics and BioSonics’ authorized distributor in Japan, Toyo Corporation. BioSonics CEO Tim Acker attended the event and presented papers on the use of echosounders for habitat assessment and the latest sonar technology for monitoring at marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) energy project installations.

A major highlight of the meeting occurred when BioSonics user, Huamei Shao from Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute in Nagasaki, received the award for Best Young Fisheries Acoustician for her paper titled: Classification of various seaweed beds by statistical analysis of acoustic data from a scientific echosounder. Ms. Shao recently purchased a BioSonics DT-X Extreme Echosounder with Visual Habitat Software in support of her ongoing seagrass research. Delivery and commissioning of the system was provided by technicians from Toyo Corporation. Huamei uses her DT-X echosounder to collect data that she uses in a novel approach for classifying different types of seagrass based on differences in the acoustic properties of the plants. In one of the slide show photos, you can see Humei receiving her award from the AFAS Meeting organizers, Yoshinori Miyamoto.

Prior to the AFAA Meeting, a group from BioSonics traveled to Japan to conduct sales training for Toyo Corporation and technical training for Huamei Shao and her colleagues at Seikai National Fisheries Research Institute. Tim Acker and Chief Scientist, Brian Moore visited Toyo’s headquarters in downtown Tokyo along with stops at several Toyo customers, including Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology. The next day, the team boarded a charter vessel and traveled through a series of long, narrow canals that form a vast grid bisecting downtown Tokyo. The canals provide an important link for fishermen who must bring their fresh catch from the sea to fish markets throughout Tokyo. Brian conducted a thorough lesson in operation of the DT-X Extreme Echosounder and acoustic data samples were collected along several transects in Tokyo Bay.

For more information about BioSonics scientific echosounders for fisheries and fisheries habitat assessment, or for copies of any of the above mentioned presentations, please contact us.