Near-bottom groundfish communities were surveyed in the waters off California and Oregon using the Seabed autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) at depths ranging from 100 to 500 m. These surveys were designed to test the utility of the Seabed AUV in surveying groundfish and their associated habitat. The long-term goal of these tests is to fill the need for cost-effective, non-extractive, fishery-independent surveys in untrawlable areas. During nine dives we collected information on the species composition, abundance, and size of many groundfish species, and over 30,000 images were collected from the optically calibrated camera. Habitat classification on a fine spatial scale was easily accomplished and allowed habitat associations of many species to be determined. An assessment of one of the most easily identifiable species, rosethorn rockfish Sebastes helvomaculatus, also showed that the size composition of this species varied over habitat types. These surveys were the first using the Seabed AUV to survey fishes in these habitats and provided insights for sample design and enhancements that would optimize the AUV for future operational surveys.
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Clarke, M.E., Tolimieri, N., Singh, H. (2009). Using the Seabed AUV to Assess Populations of Groundfish in Untrawlable Areas. In: Beamish, R.J., Rothschild, B.J. (eds) The Future of Fisheries Science in North America. Fish & Fisheries Series, vol 31. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9210-7_20
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