Evaluation of single-pass backpack electric fishing for stream fish community monitoring

Abstract  Data from Lake Ontario tributaries were used to evaluate the efficacy of single-pass backpack electric fishing for stream fish monitoring by: testing the relationship between single-pass catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) and multiple-pass-based population estimates; comparing species richness estimates derived from single-pass and multiple-pass data and assessing the concordance of fish assemblage patterns described using single-pass and multiple-pass data. Significant correlations were calculated between single-pass CPUE and removal-based population estimates for total catch, 15 species, six taxonomic families, five feeding and four reproductive guilds and tolerant/intolerant species. Strong correlations were more commonly associated with the abundance of individual species than other metrics. Capture probability was not affected by stream size or habitat complexity for most measures. Species accumulation curves and significant correlations ( r ² = 0.9) between single-pass and multiple-pass electric fishing indicate that single-pass surveys provide a representative index of species diversity. In addition, within and among-site variation in fish community composition based on single-pass and multiple-pass data were similar.     

The equivalent resistance and power requirements of electric fishing electrodes

Abstract  The empirical relationship between different sizes of electric fishing anodes, water conductivity and equivalent resistance was modelled for a range of electric fishing ring anode designs currently in use. In addition, equivalent resistance values were measured for several cathode designs. Knowledge of the equivalent electrode resistance allowed determination of the input power required to energise an electric fishing system for a range of water conductivities, circuit voltages and electrical waveforms. The values of equivalent electrode resistance did not correspond well with values obtained from previously published theoretical methods for calculating equivalent electrode resistance.     

Factors affecting the characteristics and propagation of voltage gradient fields from electric fishing anodes

Abstract  The relationship between applied anode voltage, ring anode diameter and distance to specific voltage gradient values was modelled from empirical measurements. The model allowed distance to specific voltage gradients to be predicted. Varying the anode to cathode resistance ratios had a significant effect on the electrical potential of the anode and thus the voltage gradient projected from it. The voltage gradient profile of twin anodes was reduced when they were held in close proximity (<5 m).     

Dual-gear approach for calibrating electric fishing capture efficiency and abundance estimates

Abstract  Electric fishing depletion systematically underestimates fish abundance in streams. Electric fishing mark-recapture estimates are unbiased, but only when performed over several days to allow marked fish to recover from electric fishing. A mark-recapture procedure that can be performed in 1 day and produces unbiased population estimates is described. It involves minnow trapping, marking and releasing juvenile salmonids in a stop-netted reach, followed by electric fishing the reach 1 h after release of marked fish. Recapture of marked fish during electric fishing can form the basis of a dual-gear mark-recapture population estimate, or an unbiased estimate of electric fishing capture efficiency. The marking technique did not affect short-term catchability of the target species ( P  =   0.823), and provided unbiased estimates of capture efficiency (0.38–0.40) that were similar to those documented by other researchers. However, local validation to confirm equal catchability of marked and unmarked fish, as described in this study, is recommended.     

养殖池底层鱼类电脉冲捕捞装置设计与试验

为了减轻土池养殖底层鱼类的捕捞劳动强度,提高捕捞效率,研制了具有脉冲宽度和脉冲频率可调、工作状态指示、报警等功能,以及操作简单、使用方便的助渔仪器。文章主要介绍鱼类电行为特性、水中脉冲放电产生的电场对鱼类行为作用的机理、系统电气性能参数和系统功能的确定、硬件实施及效果等。     

Management and restoration of fish communities in Lake Taihu, China

The economic development of the cities around Lake Taihu, China, has caused both environmental changes and ecological succession. The biodiversity of Lake Taihu has declined since 1970. Migratory fish, including anadromous, catadromous and semi-migratory fish, are either extinct or on the verge of extinction in Lake Taihu. Only lake dwellers persist. Several measures have been taken, such as restocking, closed seasons, sanctuaries for enhancement and even introductions to restore some original fish communities. Although these measures have achieved a certain degree of success, increased fishing activities or over-fishing have offset the benefits obtained. Moreover, cultural eutrophication of the lake and the pollution of the waterways connected with the lake are getting worse. This jeopardizes the remaining economically valuable species in the lake. Measures are required not only to control eutrophication and pollution, and to reduce the intensity of fishing, but also to address the wider biodiversity issues.     

Factors determining the structure of fish communities in Pantanal lagoons (MS, Brazil)

The fish communities of lagoons in the Nhecolândia Pantanal were studied to determine the factors which are responsible for the composition and abundance of species. Fishes were collected in 19 lagoons during August 1997, after their isolation from the River Negro, using beach seines (15 × 1.5 m; 2 mm mesh). A total of 51 species were collected. In the lagoons, or in parts with dense macrophytes, a screened box trap was used. Fishing was also accomplished with hooks of several sizes. Species richness was estimated by the jack-knife procedure, after adjustment to the log-normal distribution and with von Bertalanffy's equation (asymptotic). The most important factors in the community organization were macrophyte cover, piscivore abundance and depth of the lagoons. The role of these habitats in the Pantanal ecosystem was discussed.     

Factors regulating diversity and abundance of fish communities in Pantanal lagoons, Brazil

The factors effecting fish species richness, evenness and relative abundance in 19 floodplain lagoons in the Pantanal (Brazil) were examined. Richness and evenness were strongly correlated with the lagoon's: (i) isolation time from the main river; (ii) depth; and (iii) distance from the main river. Abundance of the five dominant fish species was correlated mainly with: (a) macrophyte cover; (b) the distance from the main river; and (c) piscivore abundance. These results suggest that the species select lagoons to avoid or minimize their confinement in inappropriate floodplain habitats. A combination of strategies, together with variations in the lagoon's connection period, determines the diversity and abundance of the fish species in the Nhecolândia Pantanal.     

Relative importance of habitat and fishing in influencing reef fish communities across seventeen Pacific Island Countries and Territories

Reef fish assessments were undertaken in 17 Pacific islands to describe the status of finfish resources in 63 villages where fishing is mainly artisanal. Surveys were performed by recording the number and size of edible fish species and benthic composition. Fishing impact was described through six proxies representing level of catch, alternative incomes, degree of commercial catch and country economic development derived from a simultaneous socioeconomic assessment. The relative importance of broadly defined habitat (geographical location, island and reef type, substrate composition) and fishing impact in controlling the distribution of fish trophic groups, families and species was measured through multivariate analysis. The extreme faunistic diversity was shown by the large variation in fish density (difference of up to an order of magnitude) and fish biomass (displaying a 20‐fold difference across the region). Herbivores were dominant in the eastern part of the region, at what we classified as complex islands and at islands with small lagoon and at coastal reefs, while carnivores were dominant at oceanic islands and atolls and at outer reefs. Specific habitat associations were shown for Scaridae, Acanthuridae, Siganidae, Balistidae, Lethrinidae, Lutjanidae and Serranidae. Relative importance and size decrease of several fish families (Mullidae, Scaridae, Lutjanidae and Serranidae) were related to high fishing impact. Acanthuridae and Lethrinidae appeared to have a role as opportunistic groups in impacted sites. The relative impact from fishing and habitat on fishes accounted for, respectively, 20 and 30% of variance, demonstrating the effect of human impacts even at such large scale and taking into account only limited fishing impact variables.     

A preliminary appraisal of the contribution of recreational fishing to the fisheries sector in north-west Trinidad

Abstract An assessment of the recreational fishery in north-west Trinidad was made by questioning participants about the principal fishing methods used, location of activities, catches, effort and cost of fishing. Surface handline methods (live baiting [à la vive] and trolling) and rod and line (banking) were the most common methods used and were pursued mainly in the summer months (April to August). Total fish landings from the fishery were estimated at 1000 t year^-1, equivalent to about 10% of commercial catches for Trinidad. The principal species caught were kingfish, Scomberomorus cavalla (Cuv.), carite, Scomberomorus brasiliensis (Cuv.), cavalli, Caranx hippos (L.), snappers, Lutjanus spp., and groupers, Epinephelus spp. Many of the fishermen sold their catch to offset the costs of the fishing trip and thus competed with commercial fishermen. Recommendations for monitoring and possibly regulating the fishery through a licensing scheme are made.     

Ecological traits of fish assemblages from Mediterranean Europe and their responses to human disturbance

Abstract  Mediterranean river systems are characterised by more diverse fish assemblages and regional ecological processes compared with the rest of Europe. A data set from Mediterranean France, Iberia and Greece (∼2000 sites) was used to describe the characteristics of fish assemblages, explore their responses to anthropogenic disturbance and analyse the implications for river quality assessment. There was a southwards decline in species richness per site, but endemicity and proportion of alien species increased. Sites in the eastern Mediterranean had higher endemicity, lower site richness and lower number of alien species than sites in western Mediterranean Europe. Assemblage composition differed between Mediterranean sub-regions, but was dominated by three major fish types: a salmonid fish type common throughout the study area and two cyprinid-dominated fish types (in some sub-regions, Salmo trutta L. is present but not numerically dominant), corresponding to a gradient in hydrological and temperature regimes. Metric responses to perturbation were compared with those found at the European (larger scale) and basin (smaller scale) levels. Overall metric response was weaker in this Mediterranean application. The best responses to human pressure were usually obtained with abundance-based metrics and included the contribution of naturalised alien species. Some widespread alien species contributed to the response to anthropogenic alteration (notably Cyprinus carpio L. and Lepomis gibbosus (L.)).     

硝化细菌对淡水水族箱水质及养殖观赏鱼影响的初步研究

本试验设立硝化细菌、水生观赏植物对照组与空白对照组进行对比试验。结果表明硝化细菌对降低淡水水族箱中COD、NH4^ -N、NO^2 -N效果显。有利于提高蓝毛足鲈等的相对生长率，对孔雀鱼、七彩神仙鱼增色有益。实验中还发现硝化细菌有明显预防细菌性肠炎病发生的作用。硝化细菌在淡水水族箱中固着种群稳定需要25—28天，在施用硝化细菌3—4周后水体COD、NH4^ -N、NO^2 -N达到稳定水平。     

Spatial and temporal patterns in fish communities along the Illinois River

Abstract –  Fish abundance data from a fish population study (1957–2000) on the Illinois River, IL, USA were used to assess community structure. There was considerable variability among reaches and years, but three distinct fish communities were identified encompassing both temporal and spatial aspects. Temporal community shifts in the upper half of the river created two distinct fish communities, one prior to 1983 and the other after 1983. This is believed to be in response to improved water quality, albeit the responses were delayed for several years after policy implementation. The third group (Lower River) was spatially separated from the two upper river groups. These differences may reflect a combination of water quality (e.g., pollution) and habitat issues (e.g., geomorphology), common to many regulated rivers. Fish community responses in larger rivers may have considerable temporal lags after implementation of management or restoration activities that warrant strong consideration during any planning process.     

杂交鳜与鳜鱼、斑鳜肌肉营养成分和氨基酸含量比较

通过测定鳜鱼、斑鳜和杂交鳜的肌肉营养成分和18种氨基酸含量,结果表明：杂交鳜、斑鳜和鳜鱼的肌肉水分、脂肪、灰分的含量无显著差异（P〉0．05）,杂交鳜与斑鳜的肌肉蛋白质含量无显著差异（P〉0．05）,但均显著高于鳜鱼肌肉的蛋白质含量（P〈0．05）;鳜鱼、斑鳜和杂交鳜的18种氨基酸含量及其组成、18种氨基酸总量（TAA）、人体所需8种必须氨基酸总量（HEAA）及4种呈味氨基酸（天门冬氨孽、谷氨酸、甘氨酸和丙氨酸）的总量（FAA）均无显著差异（（P〉0．05）。     

A review of ghost fishing: scientific approaches to evaluation and solutions

ABSTRACT:   Research on ghost fishing became active in the late 1980s. Ghost fishing has been confirmed for traps, gillnets, trammel-nets and small seine nets. Some lost traps are functional for a long period of time, even in shallow waters. Consequences for gillnets after loss depend on seabed conditions. The ghost fishing function of gillnets remaining on flat seabeds declines rapidly with decreasing heights and increasing visibility. Gillnets left tangled around an artificial reef, for example, three-dimensionally maintain the initial magnitude of ghost fishing for a long period of time, even after badly fouled. There are increasing numbers of researches working on the total number of mortality per gear after gear loss for gillnets and trammel-nets. It has become also possible to estimate the total number of mortality for a unit period of time in a certain fishing sector. This paper reviews research which has provided evidence and quantitative data on ghost fishing, and proposes five items important for future studies on ghost fishing.     

关于闽南、台浅渔场海洋捕捞作业结构调整的探讨

随着闽南、台浅渔场海洋捕捞强度不断增强,捕捞方式和作业结构日趋不合理,渔船效率下降。本文从渔场的渔业资源现状出发,对灯围、拖网等作业规模的总量控制进行探讨,提出加强渔业科学管理,控制拖网,巩固灯围,发展流刺网、深水延绳钓及鱿鱼钓和鱿鱼敷网作业的新路子,以养护和合理利用渔场渔业资源,促进渔业可持续发展。     

我国渔船气胀式救生筏的质量与相关法规分析

救生筏是一种较为理想的海上救生设备。针对渔用救生筏产品进行监督抽查,发现了诸如救生筏主体胶布物理性能偏低、粘接工艺易开裂、YJ型救生筏安全性能较差、A型救生筏充气启动拉力过大和顶篷封口水密性差、救生筏备品属具存在"短斤缺两"现象等问题。结合我国渔业船舶用产品已制定颁布的相关法规、标准现状,分析认为,我国渔船的相关法规与救生筏标准的制修订速度已经跟不上产品技术发展及国际公约的更新进程。针对救生筏现行技术规则中存在的问题,建议:进一步明确救生设备产品法定检验的基本技术依据;加快包括救生设备在内的渔船用产品检验规则的修订进程;修订规则淘汰安全性较差的YJ型简易救生筏;提高Y型救生筏主体胶布物理指标。     

东南太平洋智利竹筴鱼渔场浮游生物数量分布及与渔场关系

2006年6~8月,对智利外海渔场的5个站点(31°00′~40°45′S、82°05′~91°52′W)进行了浮游生物调查。结果显示,浮游植物共有7属10种,其中硅藻门有5属5种,甲藻门1属3种,蓝藻门1属2种;浮游植物平均生物量为0.416 mg/m3,最高生物量为0.822 mg/m3,最低为0.13 mg/m3。浮游动物为33属40种,其中桡足类有14种,占总种类数的35%,其次为浮游幼虫、水螅水母类、糠虾类和磷虾类等;浮游动物平均生物量为0.656 mg/m3,最高丰度为211 ind/m3,最低为33.5 ind/m3。通过对智利竹筴鱼产量及CPUE(单位渔获量努力量)叠加分析,发现中心渔场区域主要集中于38~43°S、80~83°W范围内,与各采样站点浮游植物生物量分布趋势一致,中心渔场与表层浮游动物生物量的分布尚不存在相对应的关联。     

Confidence intervals on catch estimates from a recreational fishing survey: a comparison of bootstrap methods

Bootstrap methods are often used for confidence intervals on recreational fish catch estimates, because they are relatively robust and straightforward to implement. Such data are typically highly skewed and zero‐inflated, presenting difficulties for many estimation methods. However, bootstrap performance in many situations is not well understood. Inaccurate confidence intervals can cause management errors, and biased intervals can promote errors in one direction. Although the analyses originate from recreational fisheries data, the conclusions are generally applicable to similarly distributed data from other sources. Using simulation, non‐parametric bootstrap confidence intervals (bootstrap normal, bootstrap percentile, hybrid, bootstrap‐t, BC, and BCa) on catch rate and total catch estimates from a recreational fishing survey were compared. The intervals' coverage (proportion of times the ‘true’ mean fell within the confidence intervals) and relative bias were also compared. The bootstrap‐t, using a resample size of slightly less than n/2, provided confidence intervals with the most correct coverage for both parameters. Intervals were biased, usually substantially, for all other methods, with the commonly used bootstrap percentile among the more biased methods.     

Evaluation of the European Fish Index: false-positive and false-negative error rate to detect disturbance and consistency with alternative fish indices

Abstract  An important requirement for meeting obligations under the European Water Framework Directive is the development of a fish-based index that is able to predict the ecological status of surface waters, and particularly be able to distinguish between (nearly) pristine and disturbed conditions. The European Fish Index (EFI), based on the concept of the Index of Biological Integrity, was developed alongside alternative models such as the Spatially Based Method on a European level (SBM-EU), for this purpose. A critical issue about these models is that they are simple to use but are able to predict whether a site is disturbed with a high degree of precision. From this perspective, two prediction errors need to be small: falsely declaring a site disturbed when it is not (false-positive error; FP) and wrongly classifying a disturbed site as undisturbed (false-negative error, FN). For the EFI, the overall FP rate was 22% and the FN rate was 19%. The performance was better for the SBM-EU method with a smaller FP rate of 7% and an FN rate of 20%, but the EFI is preferred because, with only marginal loss of precision, it is far less complex. The EFI consists of a single model based on 10 fish metrics, while the SBM-EU comprises 12 models covering 49 metrics. Comparison of the EFI with existing national or regional fish-based assessment methods found major discrepancies that make intercalibration between these methods impractical.