Periodic Counts for Estimating the Size of the Spawning Population of Alewives, Alosa pseudoharengus (Wilson)

Abstract

The number of migrating alewives in the Parker River, Massachusetts, can be counted visually by standing at the upper end of each of the 6 fish ladders in the system. Estimating the entire run of up to a month’s duration by this procedure is not economically feasible, but we suggest a subsampling procedure that can provide sufficient accuracy and be economical. The reliability of periodic sample counts when used to estimate population numbers of anadromous alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) was indicated by the low variance of paired counts, small random errors of individual counts, and by the low variability between counts on days of large runs in the Parker River. Analyses of computer-simulated runs using actual data suggested that short counts taken frequently are superior to longer counts taken less often. Both field and computer-simulated data suggested that ten-minute counts taken hourly will estimate the true population of alewife runs within 10% error at the .05 level of probability.