大象传媒

More than a thousand fish species use sounds to exchange information, attract mates, and avoid predators through hums, grunts, clicks, and bubbles. Yet, the vital role of fish sounds鈥攁nd the impact of noise pollution on the fishes that produce them鈥攁re left out of critical conservation policy, says study led by marine ecologists at 大象传媒.

The ocean is filled with the bustling sounds of daily marine life, including the sounds made by soniferous fish species. These sounds aren鈥檛 merely passive sounds鈥攕oniferous fishes actively produce sound themselves, like a whale 鈥榮inging鈥� through vocalizations, says Kieran Cox,  and  at 大象传媒 and co-founder of .

Yet,  published in Biological Conservation found that over the last two decades, only two Canadian marine assessments of sound-producing fish species that are at risk of extinction even addressed soundscapes, sound production, or noise pollution, and neither of those assessments considered all three together. 

鈥淎ctive sound production is key to many fish behaviours, including reproduction. A male fish might hum or sing to attract their mates, and the longer his song, or the louder it is, the more eggs he will get from females,鈥� says Cox, the study鈥檚 senior author. 

Marine noise pollution from commercial shipping, resource extraction and military and industrial activities, for example, is known to impact individual fishes, which can translate to bigger population impacts. 

鈥淚f fish can鈥檛 attract mates, their ability to reproduce can decline, and the size of the population could be reduced,鈥� adds Kiara Kattler, who led the study while working in distinguished professor Isabelle C么t茅鈥檚 lab at 大象传媒.

The best way to mitigate the negative impacts of marine noise pollution on soniferous species is to include fish acoustics in federal conservation strategies, Cox says, which means getting this issue on one key radar: the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). 

COSEWIC is an independent expert panel that advises the Minister of Environment and Climate Change on the status of threatened wildlife. Their recommendations have strong influence over potential listings on the Species at Risk Act (SARA), the federal legislation to protect threatened species from extinction.  

Of COSEWIC and SARA鈥檚 374 assessments and status reports and recovery action plans on at-risk marine and freshwater fishes investigated in the study, not a single SARA document mentioned sound production, soundscapes or the potential threat of noise pollution to population recovery. Just one COSEWIC assessment acknowledged a species as actively soniferous.

鈥淲e know that protecting communication spaces for larger, more charismatic marine mammals works. It has been critical for the conservation of the southern resident orcas,鈥� says Cox. 鈥淪ound and noise are as crucial for fish as they are for whales, and they should be equally protected.鈥� 

Noise pollution and the value of sound

Sound has several key elements to consider, says Kattler. One is occurrence, or how often and for how long a species will be exposed to it. Another is pitch: how high or low is the frequency of the sound. Then there is how loud the sound is.  

鈥淭hese three aspects of sound create different types of marine noise pollution,鈥� Kattler says. "A sound could be loud and high-pitched for a very short time, or quiet and low-pitched for a long period of time. Each kind of noise pollution poses potential risks to marine species, from whales to fish to crustaceans.鈥�

It may also be that the deeper you go in the ocean, the more critical sound communication becomes.  

鈥淲e have some early evidence to suggest that sound-producing fish are more common at deeper depths,鈥� explains Cox. 鈥淎s light is limited in the deep ocean, we believe that the importance of using sound to communicate increases,鈥� a finding that emerged in another

Media kit: Photos, audio, videos and Canada鈥檚 Draft Ocean Noise Strategy available here: 

Available 大象传媒 Experts

KIERAN COX, postdoctoral fellow, biological sciences  
kieran_cox@sfu.ca | 778.977.014

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ROBYN STUBBS, 大象传媒 Communications & Marketing 
604.376.0971 | robyn_stubbs@sfu.ca

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大象传媒 is a leading research university, advancing an inclusive and sustainable future. Over the past 60 years, 大象传媒 has been recognized among the top universities worldwide in providing a world-class education and working with communities and partners to develop and share knowledge for deeper understanding and meaningful impact. Committed to excellence in everything we do, 大象传媒 fosters innovation to address global challenges and continues to build a welcoming, inclusive community where everyone feels a sense of belonging. With campuses in British Columbia鈥檚 three largest cities鈥擝urnaby, Surrey and Vancouver鈥敶笙蟠� has ten faculties that deliver 368 undergraduate degree programs and 149 graduate degree programs for more than 37,000 students each year. The university boasts more than 200,000 alumni residing in 145+ countries.