Boat Electrofishing as a Technique for Sampling Paddlefish

We used electrofishing and gill netting to sample paddlefish Polyodon spathula in the Alabama River drainage during the 1992–1993 spawning migrations. Electrofishing was effective for collecting adults in riverine habitats as well as juveniles in shallow lacustrine areas. Gill netting did not cause immediate mortality, whereas electrofishing was responsible for an overall immediate mortality of 10%. Across sites, paddlefish collected by electrofishing were smaller than those collected by gill netting. In standardized sampling, electrofishing collections yielded a catch per unit effort more than twice that of collections by gill netting. These results provide a benchmark for a sampling technique rarely used with paddlefish and not previously published. Our observations suggest that boat-mounted electrofishing can provide a viable alternative technique for sampling this species, particularly when factors such as excessive current speed and an abundance of submerged timber may preclude the use of other gear.