In situ target strength of the Baltic Sea herring and sprat

Using single- and split-beam hydroacoustic equipment (70 and 38 kHz), and gillnet and trawl catches, we derived the relationship TS = 25.5 log10 L − 73.6 (r2=0.95) between acoustic target strength (TS) and fish length (L, cm) for Baltic Sea herring (Clupea harengus membras L.) and sprat (Sprattus sprattus balticus (Schneider)). Fixing the slope to 20, which is a standard practice in hydroacoustics, gave TS = 20 log10 L − 67.8 (r2=0.91). Normally, the fisheries agencies around the Baltic use a TS–length relationship that is based mainly on data from the North Sea and the intercept-value in this equation is 3.4 dB lower than that reported in this paper. This difference corresponds to an approximately twofold difference in assessed stock biomass.