File:BRUVS Station3 Cod.jpg

English: Trawl surveys routinely conducted by Cefas under-sample some of the larger piscivorous fish species, which are often either of commercial and/or conservation interest. Additionally, some habitats cannot be sampled effectively with trawls (e.g. reef habitats, deep-water areas etc), and other gears (e.g. longline) cannot be deployed safely from Cefas Endeavour.

Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems (BRUVS) provide an alternative, non-lethal method for sampling such fish, and have been widely used in the Southern hemisphere to monitor fish assemblages in certain habitats. Over the course of this project (Jan 2012 - Jan 2014), 18 deployments with BRUVS were made, with a total of 37 hours, 23 mins recording time. This image is a still from the BRUVS camera.

The locations of opportunity ranged from the northern North Sea to the west coast of England. Sample duration depended on the nature of the primary work conducted in the region, and ranged from 30 minutes on fisheries cruises when attached to the starboard gantry, to 4.5 hours when free-ranging during a Smartbuoy survey.

A report describing the species recorded and an analysis of the feasibility of sampling using this method is available.