Evaluation of Unbaited Hoop Nets for Simultaneously Assessing Channel Catfish and Flathead Catfish populations in the Minnesota River

Fisheries managers desire efficient sampling methods with sufficient precision for monitoring ictalurid catfish populations. For this study, I conducted single unbaited hoop‐net surveys in the Minnesota River to evaluate the efficacy of simultaneously assessing stock‐size (≥280‐mm) Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus and quality‐size (≥510‐mm) Flathead Catfish Pylodictis olivaris populations. I compared catch rates and length‐frequency distributions among months (April–September) and used resampling procedures to estimate the number of hoop‐net samples needed to achieve desirable precision of catch rate estimates and adequate statistical power. Catch rates (mean ± SE) were 2.1 ± 0.3 fish/net‐night for Channel Catfish and 0.8 ± 0.1 fish/net‐night for Flathead Catfish. Resampling procedures demonstrated that desirable precision (i.e., relative SE ≤ 25) and adequate statistical power (≥0.80 with α = 0.10) to detect 50% reductions in mean catch rates with two‐tailed t ‐tests could be achieved for both species with as few as 68 hoop‐net samples during August. Unbaited hoop nets are effective for simultaneously assessing Channel Catfish and Flathead Catfish populations in the Minnesota River, and conducting surveys during August provides the best balance between catch rate and precision while minimizing perceived environmental and behavioral biases. However, the amount of sampling effort needed to detect small population changes (<50%) and to collect sufficient sample sizes for age and growth analyses may be logistically prohibitive. This study emphasizes the importance of evaluating precision and statistical power of sampling methods so that fisheries managers can identify the most suitable methods for their specific objectives.