Comparison of Reef Fish Survey Data Gathered by Open and Closed Circuit SCUBA Divers Reveals Differences in Areas With Higher Fishing Pressure.

ABSTRACT: Visual survey by divers using open-circuit (OC) SCUBA is the most widely used approach to survey coral reef fishes. Therefore, it is important to quantify sources of bias in OC surveys, such as the possibility that avoidance of OC divers by fishes can lead to undercounting in areas where targeted species have come to associate divers with a risk of being speared. One potential way to reduce diver avoidance is to utilize closed circuit rebreathers (CCRs), which do not produce the noise and bubbles that are a major source of disturbance associated with OC diving. For this study, we conducted 66 paired OC and CCR fish surveys in the Main Hawaiian Islands at locations with relatively high, moderate, and light fishing pressure. We found no significant differences in biomass estimates between OC

SUBMITTER: Gray AE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5147984 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature