A comprehensive guide to set up correctly an electrofishing gear

Electrofishing eel, salmon and trout: impact of waveform and frequency on capture-per-unit-effort and spinal damage

“…Likewise, the conductivity of most freshwater fish species is not known well enough to resolve this debate completely. Furthermore, in situ, dispersion of the electric field in the water depends on the duty cycle (Pottier et al, 2020), which makes the power-transfer theory complicated to calculate when using PDC. However, in the ambient conductivity range of 145-207 mS cm −1 , the present study had the advantage of providing an equal RADAC regardless of the frequency of PDC (considering that 0 Hz is DC) or the anode and cathode on the electrofisher (Pottier et al, 2020).…”

“…Furthermore, in situ, dispersion of the electric field in the water depends on the duty cycle (Pottier et al, 2020), which makes the power-transfer theory complicated to calculate when using PDC. However, in the ambient conductivity range of 145-207 mS cm −1 , the present study had the advantage of providing an equal RADAC regardless of the frequency of PDC (considering that 0 Hz is DC) or the anode and cathode on the electrofisher (Pottier et al, 2020). Because equal RADACs yielded the same sampling effort, they allowed for replicability and comparison of different waveforms and frequencies among sampling points.…”

“…The voltage gradient was measured using a "penny" probe (term defined by Beaumont (2011)) connected to an oscilloscope (Industrial Scopemeter Fluke ® ). Because of the uncontrollable environment and the difficulty in maintaining a constant voltage gradient in a natural environment, and because propagation of the voltage gradient depends on the duty cycle (Pottier et al, 2020), RADAC was measured four times for each waveform (Tab. 2).…”