Baited Remote Underwater Video Station (BRUVS) Surveys of Fish in the Hawaiian Archipelago from 2012 to 2014

A type of remote video system used by NOAA's Ecosystem Sciences Division (ESD) at the Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) is the baited remote underwater video station (BRUVS). The BRUVS was developed and several have been used widely by Euan Harvey, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Western Australia and the Australia Institute of Marine Science. BRUVS are similar to existing BotCam technology, but are more suitable for deployment on coral reef systems because they are smaller, lighter, and can be deployed closer to the substrate. Supported by the NOAA Coral Reef Ecosystem Program (CRCP), ESD uses BRUVS to conduct fish surveys to depths of ~100 m.

Each BRUVS uses high-definition video cameras mounted 0.7 m apart on a base bar that is inwardly converged at 8Â°, set up as a stereo-video system. The video images from the cameras are subsequently analyzed to identify fish species and to determine fish sizes. The use of bait attracts a wide diversity of fish species into the field of view of the cameras, but ESD is also experimenting with unbaited deployments.

The data provided in this data setâincluding fish species, counts, and lengthsâwere generated from the analysis of video footage from BRUVS surveys conducted during PIFSC missions in the Main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) in September 2012 and November 2013, and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) in May and September 2014. Targeted fishes for measurement in the MHI included: all large-bodied predatory species, including sharks (Carcharhinidae), jacks (Carangidae), snappers (Lutjanidae), and the Hawaiian grouper (Cephalopholis argus. Select parrotfishes (Scarinae), goatfishes, chubs (Kyphosidae), and surgeonfishes (Acanthuridae) were also identified by PIFSC as species of interest. Targeted fishes for measurement in the NWHI included: all large-bodied predatory species, including sharks (Carcharhinidae), jacks (Carangidae), and the snapper Aprion virescens.

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Organization: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce