Does bait type and bait container configuration influence the performance of remote underwater video systems in temperate freshwater lakes for assessing fish community structure?

Methods for the use of baited remote underwater video stations (BRUVS) have been tested and refined such that they are now widely used in marine research for assessing fish community structure. There is comparatively less known about the effectiveness of different bait types or bait containers for use with BRUVS in freshwater temperate environments. We conducted a field-based experiment in Lake Opinicon, located in southeastern Ontario, Canada to compare the effectiveness of three baits and two styles of bait container to unbaited systems. Species richness per deployment and the probability of detecting each species were used as measures of effectiveness. BRUVS were deployed in weedy habitats in the littoral zone of the lake (1–3 m depth) with corn, cat food, sardines, or no bait, in an accessible mesh bag, or an inaccessible perforated PVC container. The mean species richness detected was uniform across bait type and container. For Micropterus salmoides , Cyprinidae spp., and Esox lucius , there were associations between bait type and proportion of detections. BRUVS appear to be effective in observing species richness in a shallow, low-visibility freshwater environment; however, there is little evidence that use of bait improves effectiveness relative to unbaited RUVS.