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UNDERWATER VIDEO EQUIPMENT AND HABITAT FOOTAGE |
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Underwater Cameras |
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Clip 1, description!?! Clip 2 is footage of a camera sled being hauled out of the water. The camera sled is used in conjunction with groundfish bottom trawls to compare estimates of fish abundance and size composition (more... on the camera sled). Clip 3 is underwater footage captured using the camera sled at 1150 meters on the west coast upper continental slope off Oregon. The slope is characterized by steep bathymetry and a muddy bottom. |
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Underwater Habitat Footage |
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Scientists involved with the Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPC) project at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center adapted the design of a "Towed Automatically Compensating Observation System" (TACOS), developed by engineers and scientists at the CSIRO Marine Research laboratories in Hobart, Tasmania, to investigate the demersal (bottom) environment in heavily fished areas around Sequam Pass, Alaska. Video clips 1-9 are footage captured with the TACOS over varying bottom types at different depths. Clips 1-2 show a lush "garden" of sponges and corals (no trawl damage) at 85 meters depth, with Atka mackerel and an occasional sculpin. Clips 3-5 show rockfish habitat at 165 meters with no obvious signs of trawl damage, and northern rockfish, Pacific ocean perch and one hard to see halibut (clip 5) are apparent. Clip 6 shows massive sand dunes at 170 meters. Clips 7-8 show large rocky outcroppings at 90 meters with spawning male (clip 7) and female (clip 8) Atka mackerel. Clip 9 shows footage of a historical fishing area at 160 meters. Notice the broken-up coral debris in this area -- heavily damaged. |
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Underwater Trawl Sweeps |
Video: All clips |
| Scientists with the AFSC's Midwater Assessment and Conservation Engineering (MACE) program compared the effects of conventional and modified sweeps (herding cables ahead of the trawl net) on sessile invertebrates. These videos were taken at four study sites on the eastern Bering Sea shelf. A seafloor sled with both sonar and video sensors was then towed across the parallel trawl tracks at several points to compare the condition of seafloor animals in areas affected by these different gears. | ||