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Electrofishing
Background
Surveying juvenile fish populations by electrofishing is an integral part of fisheries management and research. Surveys provide important baseline data on previously unsurveyed river stretches and help to monitor and assess adult spawning success, habitat degradation and stocking success.
Until 1998 electrofishing data, collected from different river systems, in different years and by different individuals, were difficult to compare because survey methods varied. The Scottish Fisheries Co-ordination Centre (SFCC) electrofishing protocol allows electrofishing surveys to be carried out to a common standard.
The protocol was developed by specialist fisheries biologists from around Scotland. This involved achieving a consensus on protocol content and carrying out field sessions to assess the protocol's accuracy and effectiveness in practice.
In order to apply the electrofishing protocol in the field and produce reliable results, surveyors must attend training courses to gain the necessary theoretical background and practical experience.
Protocol use
The survey methodology has been developed with specific reference to juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and brown/sea trout (Salmo trutta L.) in small river systems. The protocol allows qualitative (presence / absence) assessments of all fish species, but quantitative assessments should only made of salmon and trout populations. The protocol is not suited to surveys in lochs and larger river systems and is unlikely to be suitable for rivers wider than 15 metres and deeper than 0.8 metres.
Survey applications of the protocol include:
As well as monitoring juvenile salmon and trout populations, surveys can be used to:
Protocol methods
Electrofishing survey methods depend on the questions being asked, and the protocol allows for a number of different methods.
A survey design is completed before undertaking any electrofishing. This identifies the type of survey which will be carried out, as well as how many sites are required and their location, the electrofishing details and which data fields will be recorded. A number of recording sheets are available, depending on the precise methods used.
The protocol gives recommendations for deciding the precise location and size of sites and for electrofishing during different types of survey. The steps are then to: