Gear Comparison for Sampling Age‐0 Mountain Whitefish in the Madison River, Montana

The efficacy of various sampling gears for age‐0 Mountain Whitefish Prosopium williamsoni is largely unknown, which makes it difficult to investigate recruitment and early life history dynamics for the species. We compared four gears: seine, backpack electrofisher, minnow trap, and lighted minnow tr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:North American journal of fisheries management 2017-02, Vol.37 (1), p.189-195
Main Authors: Boyer, Jan K., Guy, Christopher S., Webb, Molly A. H., Horton, Travis B., McMahon, Thomas E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Backwaters
Catch per unit effort
Channels
Dynamics
Electric fishing
Fish
Freshwater
Freshwater fishes
Gears
Life history
Prosopium williamsoni
Recruitment
Rivers
Sampling
Seines
Seining
Traps
Whitefish
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Summary:The efficacy of various sampling gears for age‐0 Mountain Whitefish Prosopium williamsoni is largely unknown, which makes it difficult to investigate recruitment and early life history dynamics for the species. We compared four gears: seine, backpack electrofisher, minnow trap, and lighted minnow trap. Gears were tested in backwaters, large channels, and small channels in the Madison River, Montana. No age‐0 Mountain Whitefish were captured in minnow traps or lighted minnow traps. Mean CPUE of age‐0 Mountain Whitefish was higher for seining (0.18 fish/m2; SD, 0.39) than for electrofishing (0.01 fish/m2; SD, 0.03), and the CV was lower for seining. A broader length distribution was sampled by seining (17–41 mm) than with electrofishing (21–36 mm). Age‐0 Mountain Whitefish CPUE in seines was highest in backwaters. In channel sites, Mountain Whitefish presence was associated with areas of still or slow water ≥2 m2. Relative to the other sampling gears we evaluated, seining was the most efficient gear for sampling age‐0 Mountain Whitefish in a lotic ecosystem. Received June 19, 2016; accepted October 20, 2016 Published online January 12, 2017
ISSN:0275-5947
1548-8675
DOI:10.1080/02755947.2016.1254128