A method for extracting the fish target strength distribution from acoustic echoes

Fisheries biologists using acoustic stock assessment systems need a signal processor that will provide an estimate of the fish target strength density function. The estimated density function can be used by the biologist to determine the fish size distribution within the surveyed population and to Convert the output of an echo integrator into a density estimate. A method for extracting the target strength density function from the acoustic pulses reflected from the fish is described in this paper. The results of a Monte Carlo simulation of the technique are presented.