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Evaluating the Effectiveness of Instream Habitat Structures for Overwintering Stream Salmonids: A Test of Underwater Video
Author(s) -
Carlson Leah D.,
Quinn Michael S.
Publication year - 2005
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/m03-196.1
Subject(s) - overwintering , habitat , streams , environmental science , fishery , underwater , sampling (signal processing) , hydrology (agriculture) , ecology , oceanography , computer science , geology , biology , computer network , geotechnical engineering , filter (signal processing) , computer vision
Instream habitat structures are often employed by fisheries managers to enhance habitat quality. The effectiveness of instream habitat structures, however, is hindered by a lack of critical and systematic assessment of their success, especially in winter conditions. This study tested the use of underwater video as a method to evaluate the use of instream habitat structures (V‐weirs) by overwintering salmonids in the Crowsnest River of southwestern Alberta, Canada. The use of readily available and relatively inexpensive video equipment was shown to be effective in documenting salmonid use of winter habitat both under the ice and in open water. This technique may be particularly appropriate in areas where sampling mortality is a concern and where other methods are impractical or dangerous (e.g., small, ice‐covered streams or rivers).