An underwater laser stripe seabed profiler to measure the physical impact of towed gear components on the seabed

Abstract

A laser stripe seabed profiler that can be positioned and operated by SCUBA divers is developed. The system is shown to be accurate to within 0.5 mm. A number of examples are presented which demonstrate how the physical impact of towed gear components on a range of sediment types can be measured. These examples also highlight the need to consider the impacts of fishing gears at the level of the gear component.