Application of different fish sampling gear in Korean reservoirs and the analysis of sampling efficiencies

Abstract

The key objectives of this research were to establish fish monitoring methodologies and sampling efficiency strategies through the analysis of relations between fish species (compositions) and different kinds of sampling gear for lentic ecosystem health assessments. During the study, 81 species of fish and 53,792 individuals were sampled from the thirty reservoirs. When we tested the efficiency of combinations of multiple sampling gears, the combination of the cast net (CN) and kick net (KN) was most cost-effective, based on the sampling time elapsed and total cost of the sampling. This combination (1st choice method) sampled 74 fish species and 21,321 individuals and showed even better results than the combination of four types of gear (2nd choice method), which included the CN, fyke net (FN), trammel net (TN), KN, although 80 species and 52,242 individuals were sampled from the 2nd method. Overall, our preliminary data suggest that the lentic ecosystem health assessment (LEHA) model developed for national-level surveys may be used as an efficient tool for LEHA and the combined use of the CN and KN was more cost-effective than the 2nd choice method of four types of sampling gear (CN, FN, TN, and KN).