Obtain improved spatial resolution of seafloor types. Video studies of fishing gear effects The video portion of the workshop focused on the role of video in fishing gear impact studies and the potential for automated image processing. Both gears have been successfully used to collect relative abundance data for invertebrates. Video has inherently greater spatial resolution than trawls. Trawls effectively sample multiple taxa, while it is advisable to limit video data collection to a single taxon during each viewing of the tape.
Video is useful for calibrating trawl sampling efficiency.
Processing of video images to extract data is time-consuming and costly. Relatively slow tow speeds are required to count and identify targets with video, effectively reducing data collection efficiency. Poor image quality at slow playback speeds with analog video systems is improved somewhat with digital systems. Video systems cannot directly collect biomass data. Hardware and software incompatibilities currently limit automated video processing options.