Evaluating the use of uncrewed surface vessels to enhance Lake Erie acoustic prey-fish surveys

Mark Richard Dufour; Thomas M. Evans; Lars G. Rudstam; Suresh A. Sethi; Jeremy P. Holden; Heather Luken; Peter I. Jenkins; Daniel L. Yule; David M. Warner; Steven A. Farha; Timothy P. O’Brien; Andrew R. Barnard; Steven A. Senczyszyn; Hannah B. Blair; James M. Watkins; James J. Roberts; Peter C. Esselman

doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2026.107713

Evaluating the use of uncrewed surface vessels to enhance Lake Erie acoustic prey-fish surveys

Fisheries Research

By: Mark Richard Dufour, Thomas M. Evans, Lars G. Rudstam, Suresh A. Sethi, Jeremy P. Holden, Heather Luken, Peter I. Jenkins, Daniel L. Yule, David M. Warner, Steven A. Farha, Timothy P. O’Brien, Andrew R. Barnard, Steven A. Senczyszyn, Hannah B. Blair, James M. Watkins, James J. Roberts, and Peter C. Esselman

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2026.107713

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Abstract

Incorporation of autonomous uncrewed surface vessels (USVs) into large-scale acoustic surveys may enhance spatiotemporal extent and quality of fish density estimates. Lake Erie is currently surveyed by three motorized research vessels (RVs), which annually collect acoustic data and estimate prey-fish abundances. To evaluate the feasibility of incorporating a USV into the existing survey to increase spatial coverage, we compared paired acoustic measurements of target strength (TS), area backscattering coefficient (ABC), and areal fish density from four motorized RVs (three currently and one historically used) and one USV (Saildrone Explorer). Acoustic data were collected along 2-km transects during five sampling events distributed throughout Lake Erie. Despite observing event-specific differences that were likely impacted by sampling conditions, survey-level estimates of areal density between RVs and the USV were comparable (i.e., RV 6% lower than USV). RVs and the USV appear to react differently (speed and stability) to variable environmental conditions (wind and waves), which impacted data quality and must be mitigated in future applications. However, similar to previous comparisons in marine and freshwater environments, incorporating a USV into an acoustic survey could enhance annual fish density estimates by increasing effort, spatial coverage, logistical flexibility, and biological data collection opportunities from RVs.

Suggested Citation

Dufour, M.R., Evans, T.M., Rudstam, L.G., Sethi, S.A., Holden, J.P., Luken, H., Jenkins, P., Yule, D.L., Warner, D.M., Farha, S.A., O’Brien, T.P., Barnard, A.R., Senczyszyn, S.A., Blair, H.B., Watkins, J.M., Roberts, J.J., and Esselman, P., 2026, Evaluating the use of uncrewed surface vessels to enhance Lake Erie acoustic prey-fish surveys: Fisheries Research, v. 297, 107713, 11 p., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2026.107713.

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Additional publication details
Publication type	Article
Publication Subtype	Journal Article
Title	Evaluating the use of uncrewed surface vessels to enhance Lake Erie acoustic prey-fish surveys
Series title	Fisheries Research
DOI	10.1016/j.fishres.2026.107713
Volume	297
Year Published	2026
Language	English
Publisher	Elsevier
Contributing office(s)	Great Lakes Science Center
Description	107713, 11 p.
Country	Canada, United States
State	Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania
Other Geospatial	Lake Erie