Surveys of fish-habitat associations in the region offshore from James Price Point, Western Australia, using Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS (TM))

Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS (TM)) were deployed in coastal waters between Quondong Point and Coulomb Point, to sample demersal and semi-­demersal fishes, sharks, rays and sea snakes. Of the 197 BRUVS (TM) deployed, 154 produced imagery of sufficient quality to classify the benthic substratum, epibenthic cover and to identify and count vertebrates.BRUVS (TM) were deployed below the 5 metre depth contour (lowest astronomical tide) and placed at random within a grid of the entire study area (30x14 km), at spacings not less than 450m apart, to avoid double counting of more mobile fish. Surveys were completed around the neap tides in mid October 2009. Habitats dominated by stony corals were not sampled because they occurred intertidally, or in waters too shallow for access by the survey vessel.
Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS (TM)) were deployed to provide baseline estimates of the diversity and relative abundance of demersal and semi-demersal fishes, sharks, rays and sea snakes in the James Price Point coastal area in direct relation to habitat and depth.