Poster: Out with the Old, in with the New: Development of an HD Underwater Camera System to Observe the Harvesting Techniques of Commercial Species

The commercial fishery is an expensive industry and requires a multitude of resources to move the product from the ocean to the consumer. Fuel costs and unintentional species caught in harvesting gear have come under considerable scrutiny in recent years, encouraging harvesting gear to become more efficient and species selective. However, prior to any gear modifications, a better understanding of the species behaviour and interaction to the harvesting gear is required. The use of an underwater camera system to quantify species behaviour in relation to capture gear is a relatively new application to the fishery, and has only recently been developed to incorporate high definition (HD 1080i/720p) digital technology. Inspired by cameras used in remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), the system designed for this research was developed to observe fish behaviour, and is ideal for capturing objects in motion as they relate to operating trawls. This type of research has previously led to new gear designs that have reduced the quantity of non-targeted and undersized species often caught in commercial fisheries. The camera system developed is not limited to trawl research but can be applied to stationary gear, such as pots or traps, and other forms of mobile gear.