California Channel Islands Acoustic Receiver Array

One of PIER’s longest running projects is the California Coastal Fish Tracking Array in the Channel Islands, off the coast of Southern California. PIER manages and maintains one of the largest acoustic receiver arrays in the world, encompassing five of the Channel Islands and three points along the mainland (Point Vicente, Point Dume, and Point Conception).

Since 2000, PIER has assembled an array of 96 acoustic receivers. Anacapa and Santa Barbara Island are completely surrounded and receivers are also deployed off the major points on Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and Catalina Islands. As seen in the map below, each yellow circle represents the range of one acoustic receiver (VR2). These receivers, located in the center of the yellow circle, have been determined to have an average detection range of 500 meters; the diameter of each circle is therefore 1000 meters.

These receivers are designed to pick up the acoustic signal emitted by transmitters that have been surgically implanted in select species of fish.  PIER researchers have put over 170 acoustic tags in the water, tracking four species of California coastal fishes.

Learn More:

• Tagging and releasing California coastal fishes
• Maintenance of the Channel Islands Acoustic Receiver Array
• Acoustic telemetry technologies