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Scientific Sampling Effects : Electrofishing California's Endangered Fish Populations
Author(s) -
Nielsen Jennifer L.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
fisheries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1548-8446
pISSN - 0363-2415
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8446(1998)023<0006:sseece>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - electrofishing , endangered species , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , population , threatened species , population dynamics of fisheries , geography , ecology , habitat , biology , demography , sociology
Standard methods used by biologists around the world for sampling fish populations and determining fish and habitat relationships primarily involve electrofishing. With the recent listings of coastal salmon and steelhead as threatened or endangered, one must ask how electrofishing‐induced injury to fish in rare populations relates to “take” under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Issues related to electrofishing are under discussion in California as federal and state agencies determine how to approach permitting for monitoring and research activities in rivers containing protected fish populations. Many problems have been discussed in the literature based on short‐and long‐term injury to individual fish from different forms of electrofishing. To date no standard approach for this technology exists that will allow effective surveys without probable injury to some portion of the fish population. How electrofishing injuries made at the individual fish level translate into population effects has not been adequately studied. In many areas of central and southern California, however, where the numbers of salmon and trout can be very small, and effective population size is frequently less than 25 breeding pairs, accumulated effects due to electrofishing may be significant. This paper reviews the electrofishing literature published during the last nine years. Based on this review and personal experience, I believe fisheries biologists frequently electrofish without considering potential harm or alternative methods. Therefore, I suggest the American Fisheries Society (AFS) develop a set of guidelines for least‐invasive sampling methodologies, and adopt a policy on the ethical use of electrofishing for use by federal or state agencies to regulate all electrofishing activities in habitats containing wild fish. I believe other noninvasive study methods should be required in areas where it can be shown that electrofishing may significantly reduce a population's ability to persist.