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Comparison of Three Mark–Recapture Sampling Designs for Estimating Population Size of Largemouth Bass in Minnesota Lakes
Author(s) -
McInerny Michael C.,
Cross Timothy K.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
north american journal of fisheries management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1548-8675
pISSN - 0275-5947
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8675(1999)019<0758:cotmrs>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - bass (fish) , mark and recapture , electrofishing , fishery , statistics , micropterus , population , environmental science , sampling (signal processing) , population size , shore , mathematics , biology , fish <actinopterygii> , engineering , demography , filter (signal processing) , sociology , electrical engineering
We compared population estimates of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides (>200 mm long) made with three different designs in 13 lakes in southcentral Minnesota. Sampling was by shoreline electrofishing, estimators were either Chapman–Petersen or modified Schnabel methods, and analysis consisted of fall marking and fall recapture (FF), fall marking and spring recapture (FS), and spring marking and spring recapture (SS) designs. Most (90%) estimates made with FS designs exceeded those made with FF designs. Although estimates made with SS designs should not exceed estimates made with FF or FS designs, 80% of those made with SS designs exceeded those made with FF designs. Conversely, few (15%) estimates made with SS designs exceeded estimates made with FS designs. Several estimates made with FF designs were negatively biased because fall‐marked largemouth bass were more vulnerable to capture than unmarked largemouth bass. Therefore, FF designs should not be used to estimate population size of largemouth bass in Minnesota lakes. Bias in estimates from the other two designs could not be evaluated; however, the FS design had the most advantages for estimating population size. These advantages included the longest time between marking and recapture, multiple recapture samples with the same number of marked largemouth bass at large, and the largest sample sizes.