Habitat Associations of Benthic Fishes in Astoria Canyon from Analysis of High-Resolution Video Transects

Declines in fish stocks along the U.S. West Coast through the 1990s put pressure on fisheries managers to develop more accurate methods of stock assessment and suggest recovery strategies. Traditionally, assessments were based on data gathered by trawl surveys; however, this method cannot provide information on populations living in high relief areas and other untrawlable habitats. In an attempt to fill this gap, several habitat-specific assessment projects have been conducted along the West Coast that attempt to examine fish-habitat associations to predict community structure based on geophysical habitat availability maps. Among these projects are Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) surveys such as those dives conducted as part of a NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration investigation of Astoria Canyon, Oregon/Washington in 2001. The videos recorded during these exploratory dives will be analyzed for fish associations with bottom type, steepness, and association with structure forming invertebrates with the goal of understanding critical fish/habitat associations to provide a baseline of information on these commercially important species in this previously unexplored area.