Water quality - Sampling of fish with electricity

This European Standard provides procedures to be used by trained persons in evaluating fish communities in streams, rivers and littoral areas for the purpose of classification of ecological status. These procedures allow standardisation of sampling methods for descriptions of fish communities. The use of standardised methods is a critical requirement for the comparability of results.
This European Standard describes an electric fishing method to be used when catching fish for the purpose of characterising species richness, composition, abundance and age structure of a given fish community. Sampling-related issues include obtaining permissions, concerns about endangered species, protective measures of importance for the user of the sampling apparatus and co-ordination of activities with other sampling programmes.
The processing of samples covers taxonomic identification, counting, measurement of biologic parameters (length, weight etc.), and examination of fish for external anomalies.

Wasserbeschaffenheit - Probenahme von Fisch mittels Elektrizität

Qualité de l'eau - Echantillonnage des poissons a l'électricité

La présente Norme Européenne décrit des modes opératoires d'échantillonnage et de peche électrique destinés a etre appliqués par un personnel formé a l'évaluation des populations de poissons dans les cours d'eau, les rivieres et les zones littorales a des fins de classification de l'état écologique. Ces modes opératoires permettent de normaliser les méthodes d'échantillonnage pour décrire les peuplements de poissons. L'emploi de méthodes normalisées est une exigence cruciale pour la comparabilité des résultats.
La présente Norme Européenne décrit une méthode de peche électrique destinée a etre utilisée pour capturer des poissons dans le but de caractériser la composition, l'abondance et la structure d'âges d'un peuplement de poissons donné. Les problemes liés a l'échantillonnage incluent l'obtention des autorisations nécessaires, les mesures spéciales concernant les especes menacées, la protection physique de l'utilisateur de l'appareillage d'échantillonnage et la coordination des activités avec les autres programmes d'échantillonnage.
Le traitement des échantillons couvre l'identification taxonomique, le dénombrement, le mesurage des parametres biologiques (taille, poids, etc.) et l'examen des poissons pour la recherche d'anomalies externes.

Kakovost vode – Vzorčenje rib z elektriko

General Information

Status
Published
Publication Date
31-Aug-2003
Technical Committee
Current Stage
6060 - National Implementation/Publication (Adopted Project)
Start Date
01-Sep-2003
Due Date
01-Sep-2003
Completion Date
01-Sep-2003

Buy Standard

Standard
EN 14011:2003
English language
16 pages
sale 10% off
Preview
sale 10% off
Preview
e-Library read for
1 day

Standards Content (Sample)

2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.Wasserbeschaffenheit - Probenahme von Fisch mittels ElektrizitätQualité de l'eau - Echantillonnage des poissons a l'électricitéWater quality - Sampling of fish with electricity13.060.70Preiskava bioloških lastnosti vodeExamination of biological properties of waterICS:Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z:EN 14011:2003SIST EN 14011:2003en01-september-2003SIST EN 14011:2003SLOVENSKI
STANDARD



SIST EN 14011:2003



EUROPEAN STANDARDNORME EUROPÉENNEEUROPÄISCHE NORMEN 14011March 2003ICS 13.060.70; 65.150English versionWater quality - Sampling of fish with electricityQualité de l'eau - Echantillonnage des poissons àl'électricitéWasserbeschaffenheit - Probenahme von Fisch mittelsElektrizitätThis European Standard was approved by CEN on 5 December 2002.CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this EuropeanStandard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such nationalstandards may be obtained on application to the Management Centre or to any CEN member.This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translationunder the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the Management Centre has the same status as the officialversions.CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and UnitedKingdom.EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATIONCOMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATIONEUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNGManagement Centre: rue de Stassart, 36
B-1050 Brussels© 2003 CENAll rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reservedworldwide for CEN national Members.Ref. No. EN 14011:2003 ESIST EN 14011:2003



EN 14011:2003 (E)2ContentspageForeword.3Introduction.31Scope.32Normative references.43Principle.44Equipment.65Safety aspects and fishing procedures.76Identification and measurements of fish, release of catch.97Results.98Quality assurance and quality control.109Report.10Annex A (informative)
Example of electric fishing protocol.13Bibliography.16SIST EN 14011:2003



EN 14011:2003 (E)3ForewordThis document (EN 14011:2003) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 230 “Water analysis”, thesecretariat of which is held by DIN.This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text orby endorsement, at the latest by September 2003, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at thelatest by September 2003.Annex A is informative.According to the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organizations of the followingcountries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland,France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.IntroductionThis is the first of several European Standards developed for evaluation of the composition, abundance anddiversity of fish in rivers, lakes and coastal waters. Other European Standards will describe sampling of fish with gillnets and guidance on the scope and selection of fish sampling methods.If used properly electric fishing is considered to be harmless to the fish. However, irreversible damage can beinflicted on fish that are exposed to electricity. Therefore, the well being of the fish and the avoidance of damagethrough handling should be considered.WARNING — Persons using this standard should be familiar with normal laboratory and fieldwork practice.This standard does not purport to address all of the safety problems, if any, associated with its use. It isthe responsibility of the user to establish appropriate safety and health practices and to ensure compliancewith any national regulatory conditions.1 ScopeThis European Standard provides sampling procedures with electricity procedures to be used by trained persons inevaluating fish communities in streams, rivers and littoral areas for the purpose of classification of ecological status.These procedures allow standardisation of sampling methods for descriptions of fish communities. The use ofstandardised methods is a critical requirement for the comparability of results.This European Standard describes an electric fishing method to be used when catching fish for the purpose ofcharacterising composition, abundance and age structure of a given fish community. Sampling-related issuesinclude obtaining permissions, concerns about endangered species, protective measures of importance for theuser of the sampling apparatus and co-ordination of activities with other sampling programmes.The processing of samples covers taxonomic identification, counting, measurement of biologic parameters (length,weight etc.), and examination of fish for external anomalies.SIST EN 14011:2003



EN 14011:2003 (E)42 Normative referencesThis European Standard incorporates by dated or undated reference, provisions from other publications. Thesenormative references are cited at the appropriate places in the text, and the publications are listed hereafter. Fordated references, subsequent amendments to or revisions of any of these publications apply to this EuropeanStandard only when incorporated in it by amendment or revision. For undated references the last edition of thepublication referred to applies (including amendments).EN 25667-1:1993, Water quality — Sampling — Part 1: Guidance on the design of sampling programmes(ISO 5667-1:1980).IEC 60335-2-86, Safety of household and similar electrical appliances — Part 2-86: Particular requirements forelectric fishing machines .3 Principle3.1 GeneralIt shall be recognised that the sampling strategy to be adopted shall provide information on the current status of thefish community health at a given site. The selection of sampling sites (number and size) is of great importance forthe evaluation of the collected data. As a general guidance EN 25667-1 shall be consulted, and for more detailedguidance on fish sampling methods forthcoming standards on Sampling of fish with gill nets and on Guidance onthe scope and selection of fish sampling methods are available.3.2 Fish samplingCorrectly obtained sampling data are directly related to population density. The strategy shall be to sample adefined area of river (see Table 2) using appropriate fishing equipment (clause 4), safety precautions (5.1) andprocedures (5.2, clause 6) using qualified personnel (clause 8) to provide estimates of:¾ Fish abundance;¾ Species composition;¾ Population structures (age or size). Abundance in this context can be either a relative or an absolute measure of assessment based on a single electricfishing run of a known area of water. Where practical or appropriate multiple fishing of the known area shall becarried out to assess the efficiency of the sampling effort to obtain absolute estimates of population density. To ensure repeatability, fishing effort, fishing equipment and fishing protocols shall be the same on each samplingat the same site. The location of the sampling site shall be identified using GPS or using reference to absolutemarkers (e.g. X m downstream of XXX bridge). Photographic documentation of the sampling site is recommended.When changing equipment, comparative results with old and new equipment shall be generated, to make itpossible to compare new and old data.3.3 Number and size of sampling sites Depending on the purpose of the study (i.e. assessing abundance and age structure for a target population within ariver basin or assessing the species composition, abundance and age structure of a fish community for a givensite) two different sampling strategies (3.3.1 or 3.3.2) can be used.3.3.1 Abundance and age structure of populations To ensure that conclusions on abundance and age structure are valid for the target population(s), a sufficientnumber of sites (n) shall be included. This number depends on the spatial variation among sites and whetherassessing temporal trends or comparisons between populations is the main aim. The spatial variation is expressedSIST EN 14011:2003



EN 14011:2003 (E)5as the coefficient of variation CV = (standard deviation among sites)/ (population mean) for abundance (fish/site).For comparisons among populations, the minimum number of sites (n) for different CVs required is given inTable 1.Table 1 — Minimum number of sampling sites Coefficient of variation (CV) Minimum number of sites (n) 0,2 3 0,4 4 0,6 9 0,8 16
The CV can be determined from a pilot study or from data from similar populations. For determination of temporaltrends fewer sites may be required. The selection of sites shall be representative of habitats/biomes within the watershed. Rivers with highenvironmental stress, where no or only a few specimen are caught on several of the sampling sites, have a highCV, and, therefore, an increased number of sites is required to give a good estimate of abundances and agestructures of the species present. Due consideration shall also be given to ease of access and safety of operationalpersonnel.The timing of sampling shall be linked to an understanding of the life history strategies of the target species. Inmost circumstances sampling shall be carried out towards the end of the growing season when juveniles are of asufficiently large size to be caught by electric fishing. However, electric fishing shall not be made at temperaturesbelow 5 °C, because of reduced fish activity and reduced sampling efficiency. At low water temperaturessuccessive (removal) samplings from the same area (e.g. Zippin, 1958) may actually give higher catches in thesecond compared with the first sampling.Subsequent sampling of a particular site shall be carried out at the same time of year and under similar flowconditions. All sampling shall be done in daylight hours. The area of the river to be sampled is dependent upon width, waterdepth, and habitat variation. The minimum length to be sampled for various waters is given in Table 2.Table 2 — Minimum of length to be sampled River dimension Minimum of length to be sampled Small stream, width < 5 m 20 m, whole width has to be sampled Small river, width 5 m to 15 m 50 m, whole width has to be sampled Large river and canal, width > 15 m > 50 m of river margin either on one side or on both sides Large shallow water, water depth < 70 cm 200 m2 Large water bodies (e.g. lakes) > 50 m of littoral zone
In small wadable rivers with high densities of small fish (which is often the case in wide salmon spawning streams)a smaller length may be sufficient. As a rough guidance it is enough to catch 200 fish, but the total sampled areashall be at least 100 m2.SIST EN 14011:2003



EN 14011:2003 (E)63.3.2 Assessing fish species composition, abundance and age structure for a given site Depending on river width and depth, two different sampling methods can be used. When it is possible (small rivers)each site is sampled by wading. In deeper large rivers, sampling shall be undertaken by boat (usually in near shoreareas). In all cases, the size of the sample shall be sufficient to include the home range of the dominant fishspecies, and encompassing complete sets of the characteristic river form (e.g. pools, riffles, runs) to ensure a goodrepresentativity of the fish community. Concerning the minimum length to be sampled, a review of availableliterature shows that, because of the variability among streams and rivers within and among regions, in order toensure accurate characterisation of a fish community at a given site electric fishing shall be conducted over stream(or river) lengths of at least 20 times the stream (or river) width (Angermeier & Karr 1986, Angermeier & Smogor1995, Simonson & Lyons1995, Yoder & Smith 1998). In rivers with gradients in water currency across the riverchannel (especially fast-running rivers) it is important to sample the entire width of the sampling site, or as much ofit that is possible. For very large rivers (> 30 m wide), where it is already known that the fish community is uniform,a length of 10 times the river width may be sufficient.4 Equipment4.1 General equipment and materialsClothing: Any part of the operators likely to come into contact with the electric field shall be protected by the use ofappropriate waterproof, electrically non-conductive clothing. Adequate protection from climatic conditions (e.g.warm clothes in cold weather) and noise from the generator (ear protection) shall be worn if appropriate.4.1.1 LifejacketLifejacket shall be worn as buoyancy aid when wading in water deeper than knee depth and when sampling fromboats (EN 396:1994). The use of a lifejacket is an obligation in some countries.4.1.2 NetsNets shall have handles made from non-conductive material. Mesh used on nets shall be knotless (for fish welfarereasons).4.1.3 Fish containersFish containers shall be of an adequate size for the welfare of the number of fish placed in them. Oxygenation canbe used if appropriate. Containers likely to come into contact with electric fields shall be made from electrically non-conducting material.4.1.4 Communication equipmentCommunication equipment (e.g. mobile telephones) shall be available for emergency use.4.1.5 First aidAppropriate first aid equipment shall be available and shall include guidance notes on CPR (Cardiac PulmonaryResuscitation) techniques.4.1.6 Fire extinguisherIf motor generators are used in boats a suitable fire extinguisher shall be carried.4.2 Electric fishing apparatus Principal components of the electric fishing apparatus are the power source, the control box, cables, safetyswitches and the electrodes. Either DC (Direct Current) or PDC (Pulsating Direct Current) may be used, but ACSIST EN 14011:2003



EN 14011:2003 (E)7(Alternating Current) is harmful to fish and shall not be used. All equipment shall comply with current CENELECand IEC standards, and relevant legislation, and explicitly IEC 60335-2-86. All equipment shall be capable ofproducing the desired electrical output for the duration of the survey. Backpack equipment shall:¾ have safety switches that automatically switch off the apparatus when the grip is released (a so-called deadman’s handle);¾ be light enough to be carried for extended periods;¾ be able to be quickly released from the wearer;¾ have batteries of a non-spill type. Generator equipment shall be designed or modified to make it suitable for electric fishing use. Engines and powersources shall be safeguarded against the spill of fuel, oil and battery acid. Calibration: It is recommended that any new electric fishing equipment or technique shall be calibrated against theold equipment or techniques using a standard method.5 Safety aspects and fishing procedures5.1 Safety aspects Staff shall be protected against the hazards of electric shock, drowning, tripping and falling and inhalation of exhaustgases. Electric fishing shall not be made at high flow, and low flow conditions are preferable. Electric fishing is forbiddenwhen it is raining. All staff shall be trained in CPR techniques, or at least the number of staff required by the nationallegislation. An experienced team leader shall be appointed to every team of operators and shall have on-site responsibility forsafety, first aid and for the equipment and protective clothing. However, every member of the team has aresponsibility to work in a safe manner and to inform the leader of any deficiencies. No person shall carry out electric fishing alone. In the depot, storage of electric fishing equipment shall be under secure, safe, dry and clean conditions. After use, allequipment shall be returned to storage in such a manner that it is suitable for use on the next occasion.On site, a clear system of working signals shall be laid down before operations begin and followed by all membersof the team. Before the start of each day's work the team leader shall brief the team on the work to be done andspecify the tasks each person has to perform. Equipment shall be checked on site when fully assembled and while electrically dead, paying particular attention toplugs and sockets to ensure that they are correctly fitted and seals fully tightened. Moving mechanical parts of thegenerator (flywheel) shall be covered. A system for checking equipment shall be established and followed. This shallinclude checks on the mechanical operation of safety switches and remote controls before the equipment isenergised.Generators shall be started and control units energised only when the cathode is in the water and when all teammembers have verbally acknowledged that they are ready for operation.Do not put hands anywhere in the water when electric fishing equipment is operating. Do not touch any metal
...

Questions, Comments and Discussion

Ask us and Technical Secretary will try to provide an answer. You can facilitate discussion about the standard in here.