Maximum Side-Aspect Target Strength of an Individual Fish

Abstract

Experiments are described in which the target strengths of a number of individual fish were measured at various frequencies. The results of these experiments are combined with results from six other sources and an empirical equation approximating the maximum side‐aspect target strength of an individual fish determined for 1 ⩽ L/λ ⩽ 100, where L is the fish length and λ is the acoustic wavelength. This result is combined with a theoretical estimate of the resonance of a fish containing a swimbladder, to produce a curve approximating the maximum side‐aspect target strength of an individual bladder fish for L/λ⩽100.