Capture of Spawning Brook Trout by Electrofishing Does Not Impair Embryo Survival

Electrofishing is widely used to capture fish in freshwater systems. Fisheries assessment and fish culture activities that occur during spawning do so in the absence of a meaningful base of evidence about the potential effects of electrofishing on fish reproduction. In this laboratory experiment, we assessed whether electrofishing adult Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis affected the survival of their embryos. We used two genetically distinct strains of Brook Trout (domestic and wild-origin strains) to do so. Both strains and sexes of fish were exposed to pulsed-DC electrofishing techniques in a fully factorial design (i.e., male shocked, female shocked, both parents shocked, or neither parent shocked [control]), after which their incubating offspring were monitored for survival to the eyed egg, alevin, and fry stages. We did not detect any effects of our electrofishing treatment or interactions with the sex or strain of the fish exposed to electrofishing, suggesting that electrofishing did not negatively impact gamete viability. Our results support the use of responsible electrofishing to collect spawning salmonids for the purpose of gamete collection for hatchery rearing.

Automated summary

In this experiment, the impact of electrofishing on the survival of embryos in adult breeding fish was assessed. The results showed that electrofishing did not have a negative effect on gamete viability. This supports the responsible use of electrofishing to collect spawning salmonids for hatchery rearing.