Posted on 03/26/2008 3:37:16 PM PDT by blam
Scientists 'train' fish to catch themselves
By Katie Franklin and agencies
Last Updated: 1:01pm GMT 26/03/2008
Fish will one day be able to catch themselves if an experiment by US scientists proves successful.
Researchers at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) at Wood's Hole, Massachusetts, are testing a plan to train fish to catch themselves by using a sound broadcast to attract them into a net.
Here fishy, fishy: American scientists are using sound to influence the behaviour of fish
They hope to release fish into the open ocean, where they would grow to market size, before enticing them into an underwater cage to be harvested when they hear a tone that signals feeding time.
If successful, the system could be used to bolster depleted fish stocks and reduce the costs of fish farming, scientists said.
"It sounds crazy, but it's real," said Simon Miner, a research assistant at MBL.
Mr Miner said the first step in the project was to establish whether fish could be trained.
advertisement Fish, including black sea bass, stout and bottom-dwelling fish, were kept in a circular tank and fed in an enclosed feeding area within the tank.
Scientists would sound a tone before they dropped food into the feeding area, which the fish could enter through a small opening.
The tone was played for 20 second, three times a day, for about two weeks. The result, according to Mr Miner, was "remote-control fish".
"You hit that button and they go into that area and they wait patiently," he said.
Mr Miner is now trying to determine how the fish remember to associate the sound with food.
He said the fish were fed outside the feeding zone for a few days, and then the tone was reinstated to see if they would return to the feeding area.
Some fish forgot after five days, while others remembered for as long as 10, Mr Miner said.
In May, scientists will expand the experiment by bringing about 5,000 black sea bass to a feeding station called an AquaDome in Buzzards Bay, 45 miles south-east of Boston.
The fish will be fed in a dome after a sound broadcast and, when sufficiently "trained", will eventually be freed.
Two days later researchers will then sound the tone to see if they return.
But fish farmers will take some convincing before they adopt this system.
"The commercial side is going to be sceptical," said Randy MacMillan, the president of the National Aquaculture Association in America.
"My experience with fish is they will wander far and wide," he added.
My experience with fish is about the same. Plus, my experience with humans makes it impossible for me to imagine that nobody will attempt to steal perfectly trained fish...
You ain’t gonna *believe* this one.
Indeed, my experience is that they don't do very well once you put them on a leash.
Like Eloi to the Morlocks.
Obvious military applications. The Incredible Mr. Limpet could work on the project as a consultant.
What?
Here’s that secret crappie technique you asked about Lurker (LOL).
Just kidding, I had a friend ping me on this just now, so I couldn’t pass up the chance to tease you.
I’ll email you the Super Secret Crappie technique later, hitting the bed now.
They've got nothing on these guys. It's unbelieveable, check it out.
That’s fantastic. What a perfect fishing for kids, they don’t even have to bait the hook.
As far as using sound goes, I see no reason why fish should not be subjected to the same boring stories as fishermen, not to mention the lies. This of course, would not work with Maine fish. Their sense of humor is so dry, I'm surprised they can even swim.
Now, if you was to ring a bell every time you fed lab fish, they of course would salivate like crazy when that bell rang, whether or not food was present. Of course, them being under water and all makes the phenomenon hard to document.
You'll just take my word for it. A friend of mine once had an uncle who lived near a scientist.
Maybe it's hand signals...maybe they speak sign language...
[grin]
First it was Horse Whisperers, than the TV Dog whisperer, ... now this revoltin'development. According to the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the training of fish is a sign of the End Times, for white people anyway. But, I just ain't worried about it.
All them fish is doin' is swimmin' in circles. Now if they was able to bread themselves, grease a skillet, heat it up, and then jump in, why then I'd be impressed.
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