The Caribbean Acoustic Network (Réseau Acoustique Caraïbe, Red Acústica del Caribe, RAC) is an independent network of scientists which aim is to support all the activities related to fisheries and ecological research using underwater acoustics in the Caribbean area. It was created in 1990 by scientists from 4 countries (Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela and France) during an International Conference in Havana, with the objective to resolve the main problems that the scientists are facing in developing countries when applying fisheries acoustics. A good description of these problems is detailed by Venema (1992). These main limitations are:

• isolation of the scientists in their respective Institutes (too small teams)
• lack of modern tools (they are expansive and not always used at full time)
• difficulties of contacts with the international community and to follow the evolution of the discipline
• difficulties to adapt the fisheries acoustics methods and tools to the particular case of tropical ecosystems
• discontinuities in the national policies in developing countries as far as research is concerned, while acoustics requires years of experience for the teams to be efficient

The RAC was created with three principal objectives:

• favour contacts between teams in the region;
• develop autonomous research adapted to the specificity of the Caribbean;
• constitute a common set of equipment, allowing lending and exchange of tools

In 1994 the RAC asked FAO for sponsoring. This application was considered during the WECAF annual meeting in Caracas and accepted. The RAC is now affiliated to the WECAF Committee.

In 1996 the members decided to give to the RAC an autonomous administrative structure, and since 1998 the network has been a non-profit non-governmental association registered in Venezuela. Among the rules, the following can be pointed out:

• Language: there is no official language, the three languages used in the Caribbean (Spanish, English, French) can be used.
• Administrative structure: A president and a vice-president are elected for a period of 3 years (with no limited number of mandates) among the permanent members. A director is named for each country by the permanent members of the country. The RAC follows the general legal rules existing for Venezuelan associations. The annual administrative meeting of the Association is done simultaneously with the annual scientific meeting. At present the President is Mr J.J. Cardenas, FLASA, Venezuela, and the vice-president is Dr F. Gerlotto, IRD, France (period 1998-2001).
• Members can subscribe or resign during each annual meeting: subscription must be agreed by a majority of members, resignation can be done without notice.
• The official headquarter is installed within the Marine Research Station (EDIMAR), Punta de Piedras, Margarita, Venezuela. An agreement with FLASA allows the RAC to have its office and official address in the FLASA Campus.
• The RAC is allowed to own equipment, to recruit personal and to manage funds through its bank account in Punta de Piedras, following the Venezuelan laws.
• The RAC statutes are deposited at the Notary Office in Punta de Piedras, Nueva Esparta State, Venezuela.

Since 1990, the RAC has grown up and is including nowadays teams, scientists, manufacturers and laboratories from 6 Caribbean countries and 3 European countries. The permanent members are from:

• France:

  Institut de Recherches pour le Développement (IRD), Montpellier, Brest

• Spain:

  Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM), Barcelone

• Norway:

  SIMRAD A/S, Horten

• Colombia:

  Instituto Nacional de Pesca Artesanal (INPA), through VECEP EU Program, Santa Marta

• Costa Rica:

  Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica (UNCR), Heredia

• Cuba:

  Instituto de Oceanología (IDO), Havana

• Mexico:

  Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM), Mexico-City

  Centro de Estudios Tecnológicos del Mar (CETMAR), Chetumal

• Venezuela:

  Fundación La Salle de Ciencias Naturales (FLASA), Margarita

  Universidad de Oriente (UDO), Cumana

  Fondo Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (FONAIAP), Cumana

• USA:

  National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Pascagoula, Mississippi

  Coastal Fisheries Institute (CFI), Baton Rouge, Louisiana

  Biosonics Inc., Seattle, Washington

Figure 1. Location of the participating laboratories and companies

(Image courtesy The Living Earth, Inc. ©2002 All Rights Reserved.)

Apart from these permanent participants, other laboratories and teams have been present in a more marginal way:

• Senegal: (Centre de Recherches Océanographiques de Dakar-Thiaroye (CRODT), Dakar
• Peru: Instituto del Mar de Peru (IMARPE), Callao
• South Africa: Southern Fisheries Research Institute (SFRI), Cape Town
• United Kingdom: Marine Laboratory (MARLAB), Aberdeen, Scotland
• Norway: College of Fisheries, University of Tromsoe
• USA: Florida and Caribbean Marine Conservation Science Center (Universidy of Florida);
• USA: University of Seattle.
• Cuba: Centro de Investigaciones Pesqueras (CIP), Havana
• Mexico: Centro de Ciencias del mar (CICIMAR), La Paz
• Mexico: Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo (CIQRO), Chetumal

1. Annual meetings.

The annual meeting is one of the most important activities of the RAC. The objective of the meeting is to gather all the scientists from the Caribbean in order to present results, discuss projects, organise common work for the next year, organise the schedule of the shared equipment, etc. Participation to the meetings is free and no registration fee is required. Usually an expert from a leading Institute in Fisheries Acoustics is invited to give a lecture on a topic of particular interest to the RAC, and to participate to the discussions. The meeting is open to all the scientists interested (permanent members or not) and usually receives most of the fisheries Institutes in the region where it is held, which gives to these Institutes the opportunity to consider the use of acoustics in marine research. The average number of participants is 15 permanent members plus 10 occasional participants. During these 10 years, 9 meetings were organised:

• 1990: Havana, Cuba (Academia de Ciencias) Constitutive meeting, no expert invited
• 1991: Havana, Cuba (IDO), no expert invited
• 1992: no meeting
• 1993: Chetumal, Mexico (CIQRO). Expert invited: Dr Pierre Petitgas (ORSTOM, France). Topic: geostatistics applied to fisheries acoustics
• 1994: Havana, Cuba (IDO). Expert invited: Dr Kjell Olsen (College of Fisheries, Tromsoe, Norway). Topic: importance of fish behaviour in fisheries acoustics
• 1995: Margarita, Venezuela (FLASA). Expert invited: Mr E. John Simmonds (Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen, Scotland). Topic: Acoustic Survey design
• 1996: Cumana, Venezuela (UDO). Expert invited: Dr Manuel Barange (SFRI, Cape Town, South Africa). Topic: the measurement of Target Strength
• 1997: Puerto Morelos, Mexico (UNAM). Expert invited: Dr David MacLennan (Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen, Scotland). Topic: detection of fish near the bottom
• 1998: Margarita, Venezuela (FLASA). Expert invited: Mr Emile Marchal (IRD, France). Topic: calibration of acoustic equipment.
• 1999: Santa Marta, Colombia (INPA). Expert invited: Dr Richard Thorne (University of Seattle, USA). Topic: application of acoustics to shallow waters.

The next meeting will be organised in Costa Rica (UNCR), in October 2000.

2. Common projects

Several common projects were designed, some of them submitted with different success levels to Institutions for support. The main common projects that were successfully conducted by teams of the RAC are the following:

• France-Cuba-Mexico-Costa Rica (1988-1996): Acoustic estimates of the biomass in the shallow lagoons around Cuba. The bulk of the project was based on a bilateral convention between France (ORSTOM, then IRD) and Cuba (IDO), which began in 1988. Later on participants of CIQRO (now CETMAR) and UNCR were involved. From 1988 to 1996 6 surveys were conducted in Cuban waters. Several results were obtained from this project and were published in different journals and reports. The project was first funded by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then by IRD and IDO. It finished in 1996.

• France-Cuba-Mexico (1992, 1999-2000). Evaluation of the population of groupers (Epinephelus striatus) along the East coast of Yucatan peninsula. A preliminary survey was conducted in January, 1992. Unfortunately the grouper stock was very weak, and no abundance estimates were made possible. Nevertheless the methodology was tested, and a more complete project was built. It was funded in 1999 and the first survey will take place at end of 1999 or beginning of 2000, leaded by CETMAR. The preliminary survey was funded by ORSTOM and CIQRO, the next one will be funded by CETMAR, with some support from IRD.


Figure 2. Area surveyed by the RAC members

• Costa Rica-Spain-Venezuela-Cuba (1993). Abundance estimates of the shallow waters along the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. This common research was developed in order to demonstrate the feasibility of acoustic surveys in very shallow waters (coastal reef lagoons) along Costa Rica. It was funded by ICM (travel, equipment) and UNCR (organisation of the survey). IDO scientists were present to support the local team. Some material problems (damages of the transducer) did not allow to obtain usable data, although the project demonstrated that acoustics could be deployed in this ecosystem, under some conditions. No publication was produced.
• France-Venezuela (1996-2000). Comparison of schooling behaviour of Sardinella aurita in the Atlantic Ocean. This project involved other non-Caribbean countries (Senegal and Ivory Coast). Its main objective was to conduct behavioural research on the dynamics and typology of sardine schools through comparative observation on different stocks. Two research vessels were involved (R/V Antea, IRD; R/V Hno Gines, FLASA). Funding was shared by the two Institutes, and scientists from other laboratories of the RAC were constantly present (mainly from Cuba). The data are still under processing, but some results have already been published.
• Venezuela-Colombia (1998-1999). VECEP Project. Within the European program VECEP several common surveys were conducted by FLASA and INPA aboard the R/V Hno Gines, in order to evaluate the stocks of fish along the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The work was funded by EU mainly. The data are under processing and will be published.
• Cuba-Mexico (1999). Study of the thermal fronts in the gulf of Mexico. Within the frame of this general project, the RAC introduced a small project on the analysis of fish distribution observed by hydroacoustics. The survey was conducted aboard the R/V Ulises (Cuba), with scientists from Cuba (IDO) and Mexico (CETMAR). Most of the project was funded by Cuba, and an echo sounder was lended by IRD. The results will be published inside the global survey report.
• Several other projects were designed by the RAC and submitted to various Institutions, with no success. Among them we may cite a project submitted to EU (INCO) on the application of acoustics to shallow tropical waters (involving France, Spain, Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico and Costa Rica); a project submitted in Mexico on the study of Magdalena bay (involving Mexico and France); a project submitted in USA on survey of reef reserves involving USA, Cuba and Costa Rica, etc.
• Finally some applications are under evaluation. This is the case of a France-Venezuela project inside the ECOS Program (acoustic surveys in the Orinoco delta).

3. Exchange missions

An important role of the RAC is to encourage and support the missions of its members to working groups, conferences, and research projects. This part of the activity has been quite successful, and at present more than 30 missions of RAC members were supported. The most important events were the 4^th ICES International Conference on Fisheries Acoustics (Aberdeen, 1995), where 10 members of the RAC were present (Mexico, France, Spain, Venezuela, USA); the 1^st and 2^nd conference on shallow waters acoustics, London 1996 and Seattle 1999, with respectively 3 and 7 members of the RAC (Mexico, France, Venezuela, Cuba, Spain, USA); the annual meetings of the FAST/ICES working group (presence of 1 or 2 RAC members almost every year since 1990); several international symposia not exclusively focused on acoustics (Cuba, 1990 and 1993; GCFI, 1992). Finally the last kind of exchange is through the participation of RAC members in other RAC laboratories’ surveys (Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Venezuela, etc..).

4. Common equipment

One of the most important objectives of the RAC was to constitute a common set of equipment to be shared by all the members. This corresponds to a strong need: not all the laboratories are able to invest in the purchase of costly tools (the lowest price for a scientific echo sounder is usually above 30,000.00 Euro). Two ways were considered: first to establish a list of equipment that are in hand of the members and check the possibility of lending; second to own directly some tools.

• The laboratories working in the Caribbean are almost all equipped with fixed echo sounders aboard their research vessels, such as SIMRAD EK500 (France, Spain, Venezuela, USA), Biosonics series 102 (France, Spain, USA), portable echo sounders for shallow water or behavioural studies (SIMRAD EY: France, Mexico; Biosonics DT: France, USA, Spain), etc.
• The RAC is already owner of 3 echo sounders: a SIMRAD EYM (donation of IRD), a SIMRAD EK400 (donation of the British Antarctic Survey), a Biosonics DT5000 (long term lend by IRD). Some other equipment, such as computer (donation of ICM), oscilloscopes, calibration tools, etc. are also included in this list of own RAC tools.

5. Web page

In 1996 the RAC decided to build a web page in order to provide a fast communication system to all the members. This page is currently maintained by AQUASON, under the following address:

http://www.aquason.com/rac/

In this page is published the information for the RAC members, the list of reports of the annual meetings, and a bibliographical list of papers published on topics related to both acoustics and Caribbean area.

6. Fundings

Until now funding sources were almost exclusively the Institutes which constitute the RAC. Mainly three sources of funding exist:

• Annual budget provided by IRD. This is the most important source. IRD has been supporting the RAC since its creation, and its contribution represents usually between 50 and 75% of the total budget. In average the IRD annual contribution is around 10000 to 15000 Euro.
• Budget provided by the laboratory organising the annual meeting. Each year the meeting is held in a different country, and the cost of organisation is in charge of one of its laboratories. Since 1990: IDO (1990, 1991, 1994); CIQRO (1993), FLASA (1994, 1998); UNAM (1997); UDO (1996); INPA (1999) have organised the meeting. The average organisation cost is between 3000 and 6000 Euro.
• Other sources. They gather irregular funding (donations, contributions, travels, etc). Most of the institute have contributed in that way, which in average represents 2000 to 5000 Euro yearly.

Globally the annual RAC budget varies between 15000 and 20000 Euro.

 

1. The main field of interest

• Existing activities. The RAC will continue to support acoustic research as was done during the decade 1990-1999, for it has been agreed that the results of these first ten years were fruitful. Indeed the base of an annual meeting is maintained, as well as the support to any research projects in each laboratory which would require and deserve this help. Another important field of interest is to continue to collect and own proper acoustic tools to be lend to each one of the members who would need them.

• Common research. It has been agreed by all the members that the most common and important field of interest, shared by all the laboratories, is the adaptation and application of acoustics to shallow aquatic ecosystems. The last international conferences on the theme, where the RAC was a major participant (members of the RAC were present in the Steering Committees of the two Int’l Conferences), showed that acoustic methods and tools were giving unique quantitative and detailed information on these areas. Another general conclusion is that the research in shallow waters should extend to the global monitoring of the ecosystem, and not be limited to the fish abundance estimates. Acoustic tools are in condition to provide data on the fish density and length structure, bottom type, 3D behaviour of fish, reactions to fishing gears, macrophyte distribution, trophic system, etc. These two conclusions leaded to the proposal to built a common research project focused on ecosystem monitoring using acoustics, to be submitted to Institutions which would be willing to support it. This common project is considered the major challenge for the RAC.

2. Potential developments

The presence at some meetings of scientists from other areas of the world allowed to consider the possibility to extend geographically the RAC activities. The analysis of this possibility led to the following conclusions:

• it seems obvious that most of the problems that the RAC members are facing are not strictly related to the Caribbean, but mostly to two characteristics: developing country specificity and tropical ecosystem. The ecosystem is conditioning the methods adapted to its monitoring, which can require particular tools and methodology to be applied. In this field, the Caribbean has much to share with all the tropical countries possessing coral reefs, mangroves, coral lagoons, etc. The social and economic characteristics of developing countries were described in the first part of this report, and require also a specific organisation to be built.
• Nevertheless it did not seem efficient to open the RAC to all countries, for obvious reasons of dimensions, cost, etc.

Therefore the conclusion was that the RAC should be open to all the laboratories of North, Central and South America which share its principles. In this regard, in addition to the existing laboratories from USA (sub-tropical areas), Central America and Caribbean, members from South America could be included.

Another conclusion was to encourage colleagues of other regions in the world facing the same characteristics as the RAC area to built networks and to link them with the RAC.

3. The problems to be resolved

The main problem is to obtain a recognition and financial support by the most important international institutions which play a role in the survey and management of tropical marine ecosystems. The RAC is already affiliated to FAO through the WECAF Committee, but no effective support from this Organisation was obtained so far. The RAC will therefore contact other entities, European as well as American or international, in order to obtain official sponsoring and support. At present the network depends mostly on the support of a single Institute (IRD, France), and this position must be considered as provisional: the effort of IRD is already much above what was expected, and this Institute encourages the RAC to increase its administrative and financial autonomy.