Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference 2019

AUTHORS. Jeremy Hammen, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Columbia Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office; Emily Pherigo, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Columbia Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office; Jason Goeckler, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Columbia Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office

ABSTRACT. Successful fish management depends on the ability to quickly and accurately assess populations. This can be challenging when managing invasive species, like Silver Carp, due to the difficulty in capturing these species. Conventional gears can be limited in their ability to efficiently achieve these assessments yet these conventional methods continue to be used, risking the ability to accurately assess a population in a cost effective way. To help address these challenges, an electrified dozer trawl was developed that combined conventional boat electrofishing with a rigid-frame push net. We compared catch rates, size structures, and species diversity from conventional boat electrofishing catch with the electrified dozer trawl in tributaries of the Missouri River, Missouri, to determine which technique more efficiently and precisely assesses a Silver Carp population. The electrified dozer trawl completed sampling transects in nearly half the time and captured twice as many Silver Carp as conventional boat electrofishing. Therefore, it could be included as an assessment tool. Additional benefits of the electrified dozer trawl could extend beyond Silver Carp into the management of native and sportfish. For example, species richness and species accumulation curves were similar between the two gears indicating the potential for use in assessing fish community. Applications for the electrified dozer trawl could benefit fisheries management for several species in many different environments and needs to be explored.