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Evaluation of a Backpack Electrofishing Unit for Multiple Lake Surveys of Fish Assemblage Structure
Author(s) -
Vaux Peter D.,
Whittier Thomas R.,
DeCesare Gregory,
Kurtenbach James P.
Publication year - 2000
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(2000)020<0168:eoabeu>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - electrofishing , minnow , catch per unit effort , transect , backpack , fishery , environmental science , sampling (signal processing) , fish <actinopterygii> , ecology , biology , geography , archaeology , physics , detector , optics
We evaluated the effectiveness of a portable, backpack electrofishing unit, used from a small boat, for sampling fish assemblage structure in 11 lakes in the northeastern United States. Samples collected with a boat‐mounted, 350‐W backpack unit (EF‐BP) were compared with samples taken by (1) two 5,000‐W electrofishing units, (2) gill nets, (3) trap nets and minnow traps, and (4) seines. The EF‐BP was more effective than the nonelectrofishing gears, capturing a mean of 79% of a lake's documented fish species pool. Gill nets, beach seines, and trap nets captured, on average, about 50% of the species; minnow traps were least efficient. With identical transect times, the EF‐BP was as effective as a standard barge‐mounted electrofishing unit for capturing species and numbers of individuals. At three low‐conductivity lakes, the EF‐BP collected fewer species and individuals than a semiportable 5,000‐W unit but was more effective than any of the nonelectrofishing gears. Analysis of species accumulation curves for the EF‐BP indicated that three or four 4‐min electrofishing of transects were sufficient to collect a reasonably complete sample of the available species pool in lakes smaller than 20 ha; in larger lakes up to 900 ha, as many as nine transects were required to achieve a similar degree of sampling sufficiency.