Fishery research in the Great Lakes using a low-cost remotely operated vehicle

We used a MiniROVER MK II remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to collect ground-truth information on fish and their habitat in the Great Lakes that have traditionally been collected by divers, or with static cameras, or submersibles. The ROV, powered by 4 thrusters and controlled by the pilot at the surface, was portable and efficient to operate throughout the Great Lakes in 1987, and collected a total of 30 h of video data recorded for later analysis. We collected 50% more substrate information per unit of effort with the ROV than with static cameras. Fish behavior ranged from no avoidance reaction in ambient light, to erratic responses in the vehicle lights. The ROV's field of view depended on the time of day, light levels, and density of zooplankton. Quantification of the data collected with the ROV (either physical samples or video image data) will serve to enhance the use of the ROV as a research tool to conduct fishery research on the Great Lakes.