Abstract
Alaska Department of Fish and Game research personnel conducted the state’s first video stock assessment survey for weathervane scallops Patinopecten caurinus in the eastern Gulf of Alaska during May and June 2002. Six discrete beds were identified for sampling using logbook data collected through an observer program. Primary sampling equipment was a towed sled equipped with a miniature digital video camcorder that captured images of scallops on the substrate. The sled was successfully deployed at 135 randomly selected stations and over 12,000 scallops were counted from about 124,000 m2 of the bottom surveyed. Tows were also made with a mesh-lined 2.44 m survey dredge to obtain specimens for use in establishing a statistical relationship between scallop shell height and meat weight. Approximate measurements of scallop shell height were also obtained directly from video. The survey produced an overall density estimate of 1.0 scallops per 10 m2, or 131.6 million scallops accounting for 1566×103 kg of meats. To reduce that amount of time required for video review, tapes were reviewed at regular playback speed without stopping or rewinding, and measurements were made on a subsample of the scallops captured on video. The work showed that video surveys are a viable method for fishery-independent assessment of Alaska’s scallop stocks.