Noise pollution weakens fish health, study finds

A dead fish in a river.

(Illustration) -

Fish exposed to acute noise pollution are more vulnerable to disease and die faster when exposure is chronic.

This is what a new study suggests that highlights the consequences of human activity on the living world.

Sonars, boreholes or motors are all sources of “stress, hearing loss, behavior changes and reduced immunity” for fish populations, recalls the study conducted by researchers at Cardiff University.

Their contribution, published Wednesday in the journal

, focuses on the impact of noise pollution on resistance to parasitic diseases, a scourge of fish farming.

A new paper just published in the journal Royal Society Open Science shows fish exposed to noise pollution likely to die early: study https://t.co/omPWnBOu6V via @physorg_com

- UK Noise Association (@cutnoise) September 16, 2020

"Keep noise pollution to a minimum"

The fish, of the Guppy species, were placed in tanks and subjected to noise of distinct duration and intensity.

One group suffered 24 hours of high pitched noise, and the second seven days of chronic, less loud noise.

Under anesthesia, including a control group, they were infected with a common parasite, the gyrodactyl worm.

The latter clings to their scales and multiplies rapidly, damaging tissue and paving the way for infections.

The study concluded that while the fish subjected to acute noise suffered a stronger infestation, those who experienced chronic noise "clearly died sooner" than those in the other two groups.

According to one of the co-authors of the study, Numair Massoud, more experiments are needed to explore the consequences of noise pollution on the immune system of fish.

This research could benefit both species conservation efforts and fish farms, whose populations are highly vulnerable to parasite attack.

“Freshwater fish in particular are recording unprecedented levels of species loss,” he said.

“Ultimately, our study underscores the need to keep noise pollution to a minimum to avoid an increase in susceptibility to disease and death rates,” added Numair Massoud.

In a study published in November, scientists from Queen's University Belfast found that noise affects amphibians, arthropods, birds, fish, mammals, molluscs and reptiles.

They called for the noise of human activity to be qualified and treated as a “major global pollutant”.

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