Fish are attracted to vessels

Fish rapidly accumulated below research vessels (RVs) at anchor, kept stationary by dynamic satellite positioning, or freely drifting. This happened by day and night, beneath vessels with different noise levels, in fjords and the open ocean, comprised different species assemblages of fish, and spanned depths of several hundred metres. Acoustic backscatter (fish abundance) increased by more than an order of magnitude in less than an hour. One of the study sites was characterized by much ship traffic, and intermittent, strong decreases in the local fish aggregation beneath the RV were caused by fish swimming towards passing commercial vessels, before returning to the stationary RV. The study suggests more complex relationships between fish, vessels, and noise than previously anticipated. If fish are commonly attracted to vessels, this has implications for fish abundance estimates and basic ecological research.