In 1996, the Japanese government enacted “The law for the preservation and management of marine fisheries resources” and introduced a Total Allowable Catch （TAC） management system for walleye pollock, Japanese common squid, Pacific saury, and other species. This will require more accurate estimates of stock abundance and better management methods. Acoustic techniques using scientific echosounders are one way to estimate the distribution and abundance of fish. Such techniques are commonly used, especially in Northern Europe and North America, because they can survey large areas of ocean relatively quickly. However, before such surveys can be conducted, the acoustic characteristics of the target species must be known. In Japan, acoustic techniques are not often used because there are many species in the waters around Japan. Many studies have examined the acoustic characteristics of commercial aquatic organisms. However, it is difficult to estimate their abundance using only the acoustic characteristics of those organisms because many non-commercial aquatic organisms also live in the sea. Therefore, in this study, I determine the acoustic characteristics of non-commercial aquatic organisms to facilitate the use of acoustic techniques in the waters around Japan. This paper is a representative study.
