title: A highly sensitive underwater video system for use in turbid aquaculture ponds.
abstract: The turbid, low-light waters characteristic of aquaculture ponds have made it difficult or impossible for previous video cameras to provide clear imagery of the ponds' benthic habitat. We developed a highly sensitive, underwater video system (UVS) for this particular application and tested it in shrimp ponds having turbidities typical of those in southern Taiwan. The system's high-quality video stream and images, together with its camera capacity (up to nine cameras), permit in situ observations of shrimp feeding behavior, shrimp size and internal anatomy, and organic matter residues on pond sediments. The UVS can operate continuously and be focused remotely, a convenience to shrimp farmers. The observations possible with the UVS provide aquaculturists with information critical to provision of feed with minimal waste; determining whether the accumulation of organic-matter residues dictates exchange of pond water; and management decisions concerning shrimp health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oceanography, and Asia-Pacific Ocean Research Center, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, 80424, Taiwan.|Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 23529 USA.
authors.forename: Chin-Chang
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: Department of Oceanography, and Asia-Pacific Ocean Research Center, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, 80424, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shih-Chieh
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Tsao
authors.affiliation: Department of Oceanography, and Asia-Pacific Ocean Research Center, National Sun Yat-Sen University, Kaohsiung, 80424, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kuo-Hao
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Taiwan Ocean Research Institute, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jia-Pu
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Taiwan Ocean Research Institute, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsu-Kuang
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 23529 USA.
authors.forename: Fred C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Dobbs