Making the most of sounder data SUNTAG
Stefan Sawynok
Mapping data collected via echosounders comes in volume and comes in ugly. Automation and the emphasis on end-user experience on the echo sounder mean that things such as friendly file systems and easy
into the data collected by sounders is where the real power lies. I have explored the wiles of the fishing brain more than anyone I am aware of, and there is no doubt in my mind a data-driven fisher is very different from traditional angler in how they structure their fishing. Post fishing review is where the datadriven angler has a real edge as they can be far
out essential elements of large datasets and automate tasks like data sorting and cleaning. Be in no doubt that AI will play a huge role in the future of fishing. Echosounders will only get smarter, and those that learn how to use them to their full potential will have a severe advantage on the water. REVIEWING DATA The best way to approach reviewing
Figure 1 – Artificial Intelligence learning how to identify tilapia nests. around the newly installed fish hotels, and to identify the species of large schools of fish found with another echosounder, our Biosonics unit. What is a fish hotel? In crude terms, it’s a wooden structure put in to provide shelter for fish. In practical
Figure 2 – Biosonics unit detecting a school of tilapia. to identify filenames don’t happen. To a large degree, I can understand that – the battle on the water for the best electronics is now fierce and a constant source of innovation. I had the opportunity to see the new Garmin live viewing system at the Sydney Boat Show; it’s awe-inspiring technology. Fish will only find it harder to hide as time goes on. That said, I think that in their rush to capture the attention of fishers on the water, the sounder companies are missing the point of what makes their
more efficient, maximising the benefits of time on the water. My view is that data-driven fishers will dominate in the years to come, provided they have the tools to take advantage of their new skills. I can say that post review we have adjusted our survey methods a lot and improved success accordingly. Post review the picture of the fishery becomes clearer, and the next round of data collection can be used to fill in more detail. Artificial Intelligence also has a role to play.
the bottom. That might be something to consider in managing their numbers – reducing nesting area is more likely to be effective than catching them because they breed like crazy. The Biosonics sounder can mark and count fish in an area. As it turns out, the
Figure 4 – Reefmaster import options cover most units and activities. sounder data is with a question. not to say that exploration of
to start That is random sidescan
terms in this instance, it’s a cubic metre of various bits of wood anchored on a concrete base. One exciting thing we discovered about the fish hotels is that tilapia don’t like them. It looks like tilapia don’t like much in the way of structure at all, they seem to prefer shallow water and soft material on
species we identified were tilapia, a pest species in Queensland. The Biosonics is proving to be a compelling piece of technology. We get regular requests from fishers to ‘borrow’ the unit. The image in Figure 2 might not look like much, but when you get a map
with GPS marks for every fish, things seem a little different. REEFMASTER I will focus on Reefmaster in this article, because so far it’s the best tool I have found that combines the three core needs of a data-driven fisher – data management, review, and mapping. Reefmaster is very affordable at the $250-350 mark. There are other tools out there to do the job, and all the skills I will feature here will translate. Nonetheless, I recommend Reefmaster as it has the complete package and is ridiculously easy to use. For the record, I have never talked to anyone at Reefmaster, so my views on the product are based solely on real-world use. One other thing I will note – this is a beautiful piece of software visually. That may not seem an important detail, but as a long-term software designer and programmer, I appreciate software that feels like the people behind the software have a passion for the product they have created.
Figure 3 – Solix side scan view of the school of tilapia. systems so valuable. The real power of these devices is in the review, not on the water. On the water, there is only so much detail you can absorb in real time. No matter how good you are, there will be things missed. Being able to dive 78
OCTOBER 2018
At Infofish, we are already using different machine learning approaches to interpret echosounder data out of necessity. If you can record tens of thousands of fish a day, making sense of that data is a gigantic task. AI can help to tease
data doesn’t have value, but in my experience, the best approach to understanding data to is to focus on a real problem. In this survey we had two key questions – we wanted to know what types of fish are hanging
Figure 5 – Tracks named and organised.