Surveys were undertaken in February/March and August/September 2007 (Autumn and Spring) and October 2009 (Spring) on two pairs of discrete deepwater shoals in the mid-shelf section of the southern Great Barrier Reef - East and West Warregos; Karamea and Barcoo Banks. Within each pair, one shoal was from a 'Green' (closed to all fishing) and the other from a 'Blue' (open to fishing) zone, based on the rezoning carried out in 2004. The demersal vertebrate communities were sampled using non-extractive Baited Remote Underwater Video Stations (BRUVS), which revealed a diverse (c250 species) fauna of fish, sharks, rays and seasnakes.
Variables recorded:
Habitat composition of underlying substratum (sand, rubble, consolidated outcrop or reef), and epibenthic community (hard coral, soft coral, sponge, macroalgae, whips and gorgonians, encrusting organisms, bare substratum) - estimated from BRUVS field of view as percentage cover of each component, to nearest 10%.
Zone (Green, G; or Blue, B); Reef name; Habitat class (coral - coral dominated reef; garden - gorgonian and seawhip garden; rubble - low relief rubble field; sand - open sandy seabed); Depth (m; or shallow, deep); Latitude and longitude (ship's GPS position at deployment); Trip (1 - February, autumn; 2 - August/September, spring). In some (stereo) BRUVs the size of fishes was recorded (mm).
Fish species were placed in categories depending on the likelihood of being caught and retained by line fishers:
(a) 'Highly sought after reef dwelling species' - the most desirable reef dwelling species based on eating qualities and size, as well as their reef dwelling habits.
(b) 'Sought after reef dwelling and pelagic species' - as in (a) plus pelagic and semi-pelagic species, and smaller, acceptable food fishes.
(c) 'All species considered likely to be caught by line fishers including by-catch' - as in (b) plus the undesirable fishes that form by-catch.
(d) 'Species considered unlikely to be caught by line fishers' - all species unlikely to be hooked because of their dietary preferences or small size.
