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Relating fish distributions to physical characteristics of a tidal energy candidate site in the banks strait, Australia
Citation
Scherelis, C and Penesis, I and Marsh, P and Cossu, R and Hemer, M and Wright, J, Relating fish distributions to physical characteristics of a tidal energy candidate site in the banks strait, Australia, International Marine Energy Journal, 3, (2) pp. 111-118. ISSN 2631-5548 (2020) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. CC BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
DOI: doi:10.36688/imej.3.111‐118
Abstract
With the tidal energy industry moving towards commercial-scale developments, it is important to consider potential interactions between tidal energy converters (TECs) and the marine environment prior to the instalment of large-scale TEC arrays. The Banks Strait, a tidal channel located in the northeast of Tasmania, Australia, was identified as a promising candidate site for tidal energy by the Australian Tidal Energy (AUSTEn) project. To gain an understanding about potential overlap between TEC arrays and fish usage of the Banks Strait tidal channel, fish density distributions were estimated from hydroacoustic surveys during the tidal resource characterization campaign. Differences in fish density were examined according to bottom-depth, bottom - type, current speed, temperature and vertical distribution. Fish densities were significantly higher at night and displayed preferences for depths between 20 - 40 m and current speeds between 1.75 - 2 m/s. Fish density was generally highest in the bottom 10 m from the sea floor at all depths sampled. Variation by temperature and bottom-type sampled was not significant. Future studies involving long-term, stationary surveys of fish densities along with repeated surveys across different seasons would provide a more wholistic picture of fish distributions in the Banks Strait to inform developers about potential device encounter probabilities.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | Australian tidal energy, Banks Strait, environmental monitoring, fish density distribution, hydroacoustics |
| Research Division: | Engineering |
| Research Group: | Environmental engineering |
| Research Field: | Environmentally sustainable engineering |
| Objective Division: | Energy |
| Objective Group: | Renewable energy |
| Objective Field: | Tidal energy |
| UTAS Author: | Scherelis, C (Mr Constantin Scherelis) |
| UTAS Author: | Penesis, I (Professor Irene Penesis) |
| UTAS Author: | Marsh, P (Dr Philip Marsh) |
| UTAS Author: | Wright, J (Associate Professor Jeffrey Wright) |
| ID Code: | 144137 |
| Year Published: | 2020 |
| Deposited By: | NC Maritime Engineering and Hydrodynamics |
| Deposited On: | 2021-04-22 |
| Last Modified: | 2021-11-24 |
| Downloads: | 12 View Download Statistics |
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