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Volume 13
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10.3390/jmse13122255
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This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.
Article

Robust Daytime In Situ Target Strength Estimation of Pacific Hake (Merluccius productus) over a Wide Size Range

by
Dezhang Chu
1,†,
Stéphane Gauthier
2,3,
Stephen de Blois
1,*,
Julia Clemons
1 and
Rebecca Thomas
1
1
Northwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries, 2725 Montlake Blvd. E., Seattle, WA 98112, USA
2
Institute of Ocean Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 9860 West Saanich Rd., Sidney, BC V8L 4B2, Canada
3
Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Retired.
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2025, 13(12), 2255; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13122255
Submission received: 30 September 2025 / Revised: 11 November 2025 / Accepted: 24 November 2025 / Published: 27 November 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Marine Environmental Science)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Accurate determination of the target strength (TS) of a fish species is essential for estimating the biomass of fish stocks using acoustic technology. This study estimated the daytime in situ target strength of Pacific hake (Merluccius productus) at 38 kHz using echosounder data collected during hake biomass acoustic-trawl surveys and research cruises conducted from 2009 to 2019 by U.S. and Canadian scientists. The intercept term for the 20-log TS regression over fish length at 38 kHz, b20, was found to be −67.9 dB re 1 m2 (CI: −68.09, −67.72), closely aligning with the currently used value of −68 dB in biomass assessments. Applying the revised b20  value of −67.9 dB in past stock assessments suggests that biomass estimates would be underestimated by less than 3%, which is well within the typical uncertainty range of fish stock assessments.

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MDPI and ACS Style

Chu, D.; Gauthier, S.; de Blois, S.; Clemons, J.; Thomas, R. Robust Daytime In Situ Target Strength Estimation of Pacific Hake (Merluccius productus) over a Wide Size Range. J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2025, 13, 2255. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13122255

AMA Style

Chu D, Gauthier S, de Blois S, Clemons J, Thomas R. Robust Daytime In Situ Target Strength Estimation of Pacific Hake (Merluccius productus) over a Wide Size Range. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. 2025; 13(12):2255. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13122255

Chicago/Turabian Style

Chu, Dezhang, Stéphane Gauthier, Stephen de Blois, Julia Clemons, and Rebecca Thomas. 2025. "Robust Daytime In Situ Target Strength Estimation of Pacific Hake (Merluccius productus) over a Wide Size Range" Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 13, no. 12: 2255. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13122255

APA Style

Chu, D., Gauthier, S., de Blois, S., Clemons, J., & Thomas, R. (2025). Robust Daytime In Situ Target Strength Estimation of Pacific Hake (Merluccius productus) over a Wide Size Range. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 13(12), 2255. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse13122255

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