Electrofishing is an effective way to capture fish by using an electrical current to stun. It is commonly used to sample fish populations for the purpose of providing information on fish abundance and assemblage. It is generally used in wadeable rivers and streams and considered less stressful to fish and more effective than netting in shallow water. Electrofishing equipment consists of three pieces of equipment: a power source, a transformer and electrodes. Survey data can be used to monitor species or areas of interest, assess human activity impacts and show change over time.
Electrofishing takes place between July and October as to avoid damaging young of the year fish and making them easy to identify whilst also avoiding returning adult fish. Last year we managed to survey over 52 sites in a collaboration between SCENE, University of Glasgow and ourselves. This year we are looking at surveying all of the Endrick Water burns, aside from those we fished last year, as well as a number of burns and sites along the Blane water and hopefully the Fruin Water. We will also be continuing our participation in Marine Scotlands National Electrofishing Programme for Scotland (NEPS).
