Data acquisition, management, quality control and processing for acoustic surveys: Methods of best practice Tim Pauly Hydroacoustics, Australian Antarctic Division Channel Highway, Kingston, Tasmania 7004 Email: tim_pau@antdiv.gov.au The Australian Antarctic Division has a long history of conducting acoustic surveys in Antarctica, starting in 1980 with The First International Biomass EXperiment (FIBEX). During the period 29th January to 21st March 1996 we conducted an Antarctic krill biomass survey covering and area of 873,000 km2 (80E and 150E). Acoustic data was logged using operating frequencies of 200, 120, 38 and 12 kHz with hull mounted transducers and a 120kHz towed body. Ping echogram data (700 pixels) were continuously logged for all frequencies throughout the survey. In conjunction with the acoustic data 145 CDT casts, 69 routine (pre-determined sites) and 102 target trawls (trawls directed at acoustic target) were made. The biomass estimate from the 120 kHz data and regular trawls was calculated and presented to and accepted by the Working Group for Ecosystem Monitoring and Management (WE-GEMM) of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in less than 4 months from the completion of the voyage. Both temperate (Port Arthur Australia) and cold water calibrations ( Casey Base Antarctica) were conducted. The survey data was logged, managed, quality controlled and processed using a suit of software routines called ECHO which was jointly developed by the Antarctic Division and Commonwealth Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia. Final analysis and all algorithm development was conducted using Mathcad work sheets developed in house. This work outlines the methods used for: conducting the survey; editing the acoustic ecohgram, positional, and vessel log data; hydrographic measurements and corrections; conducting and processing trawls; reducing the data to transect averages and estimating the biomass.