Advances in Methods for Marine Mammal and Fish Stock Assessments: Thermal Imagery and CamTrawl

Abstract

AbstractNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has adopted an integrated ecosystem research approach to understand climate effects on fish, seabirds, and marine mammals in the Arctic. The integrated ecosystem approach combines traditional oceanography, fisheries, and mammal research techniques to improve scientific understanding of how ecosystems function as a whole. Innovative technologies are being developed to aid in this effort. Two new technologies that NOAA deploys in the Arctic are an advanced thermal imaging technology used to survey ice seal abundance and a high-resolution, nonlethal technology, which integrates cameras and trawls to sample pelagic fishes (CamTrawl). The ice seal surveys relied on thermal imagery to detect warm seal bodies hauled out on cold sea ice. Compared to observer-based surveys, thermal detection surveys require fewer personnel and less postsurvey processing time, can be flown at a higher altitude (reducing disturbance of seals), and yield higher rates of seal detection. The CamTrawl is a self-contained stereo-camera system fitted to the aft end of a trawl at the cod end (i.e., capture bag), which can be left open. By integrating a camera system in the aft portion of a trawl, the CamTrawl concentrates marine organisms and presents this captive group to the cameras without having to recover them for onboard counting, as is done in traditional trawl tows. Compared to traditional survey methods, the CamTrawl more precisely places marine organisms spatially in their environment, which is useful because of small-scale variation in the composition and distribution of fish schools.