Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xm8r8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-21T05:18:22.310Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A comparison between the benthic Nordic gillnet and whole water column gillnet for characterizing fish assemblages in the shallow Lake Balaton

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

András Specziár ,
Tibor Erős ,
Ágnes I. György ,
István Tátrai  and
Péter Bíró
András Specziár*
Affiliation:
Balaton Limnological Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 8237 Tihany, Hungary
Tibor Erős
Affiliation:
Balaton Limnological Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 8237 Tihany, Hungary
Ágnes I. György
Affiliation:
Balaton Limnological Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 8237 Tihany, Hungary University of Pannonia, Department of Limnology, 8200 Veszprém, Hungary
István Tátrai
Affiliation:
Balaton Limnological Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 8237 Tihany, Hungary
Péter Bíró
Affiliation:
Balaton Limnological Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 8237 Tihany, Hungary
*
speci@tres.blki.hu
Get access

Abstract

Performance of the prescribed gear of the European Standard (i.e. 1.5 m deep Nordic gillnet) was compared with gillnets deep enough to cover the whole water column (WWCG) for characterizing fish assemblages in a large and shallow lake (Lake Balaton, Hungary). Differences in species number, relative abundance and biomass, and length distribution of fish were examined in both inshore and offshore habitats of the lake. Nordic gillnet samples provided comparable information to that of WWCG for both species richness and abundance and biomass of benthic species. However, substantial differences were found between the two net types in the representation of pelagic fish species (i.e. bleak, razor fish and asp). Overall, the WWCG provided different information with more precise (less variable) data on fish assemblage structure than the Nordic gillnet. Results suggest that identification of neither horizontal nor vertical gradients in within lake fish assemblage structure can be guaranteed with the Nordic gillnet alone even in such shallow lakes, like Lake Balaton. It was concluded that benthic Nordic gillnet samples should be complemented with information on fish occurring in the upper water layers (i.e. pelagic species) even in very shallow lakes either by using pelagic or floating gillnets or by whole water column gillnetting.

Keywords

Nordic gillnetEN 14757:2005representative samplingpelagic fish speciesshallow lake
Type
Research Article
Information
Annales de Limnologie - International Journal of Limnology , Volume 45 , Issue 3 , 2009 , pp. 171 - 180
Copyright
© EDP Sciences, 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Appelberg M. (ed.), 2000. Swedish standard methods for sampling freshwater fish with multi-mesh gillnets. Fiskeriverket Information, 1, 32 p.
Appelberg, M., Berger, H.M., Hesthagen, T., Kleiven, E., Kurkilahti, M., Raitaniemi, J. and Rask, M., 1995. Development and intercalibration of methods of Nordic freshwater fish monitoring. Water Air Soil Pollut. , 85, 883–888. CrossRef
Bíró, P., 1997. Temporal variation in Lake Balaton and its fish populations. Ecol. Freshw. Fish , 6, 196–216. CrossRef
CEN (European Committee for Standardization), 2005. Water quality – Sampling of fish with multi-mesh gillnets (14757:2005), Brussels, 27 p.
Erős, T., Specziár, A. and Bíró, P., 2009. Assessing fish assemblages in the littoral zone of a large shallow lake – a comparison between gillnetting and electric fishing. Fish. Res. , 96, 70–76. CrossRef
Fjälling, A. and Fürst, M., 1991. Preliminary manual for test-fishing in Zambian reservoirs. Fish. Dev. Series , 53, 27–44.
Gassner H., Zick D., Bruschek G., Mayrhofer K. and Frey I., 2006. Metodik – Handbuch. In: Fischbestandsaufnahme und Bewertung des okologischen Zustandes der naturlichen und kunstlichen Seen Osterreichs (>50 ha) gemass EU-Wasserrahmenrichtlinie – Bundesamt fur Wasserwirtschaft, Institute fur Gewasserokologie, Fischereibiologie und Seenkunde, Mondsee, 27 p.
Gotelli, N.J. and Colwell, R.K., 2001. Quantifying biodiversity: procedures and pitfalls in the measurement and comparison of species richness. Ecol. Lett. , 4, 379–391. CrossRef
Gotelli N.J. and Entsminger G.L., 2008. EcoSim: Null Models Software for Ecology, Version 7, Acquired Intelligence Inc. & Kesey-Bear, Jericho, available at http://www.garyentsminger.com/ecosim/ecosim.htm.
Hamley, J.M., 1975. Review of gillnet selectivity. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. , 32, 1943–1969. CrossRef
Hammar, J. and Filipsson, O., 1985. Ecological testfishing with the Lundgren gillnets of multiple mesh size: The Drottningholm technique modified for Newfoundland Artic char populations. Rep. Inst. Freshw. Res. Drottningholm , 62, 12–35.
Hansson, S., 1988. A simple vertical gill net system for variable current conditions. Hydrobiologia , 160, 107–110. CrossRef
Helland, I.P., Freyhof, J., Kasprzak, P. and Mehner, T., 2007. Temperature sensitivity of vertical distributions of zooplankton and planktivorous fish in stratified lake. Oecologia , 151, 322–330. CrossRef
Herodek S., Laczkó L. and Virág Á., 1988. Lake Balaton: research and management, Nexus, Budapest, 110 p.
Holmgren, K. and Appelberg, M., 2000. Size structure of benthic freshwater fish communities in relation to environmental gradients. J. Fish Biol. , 57, 1312–1330. CrossRef
Hubert W.A., 1996. Passive capture techniques. In: Murphy B.R., Willis D.W. (eds.), Fisheries techniques, 2nd edition, American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland, 157–181.
Istvánovics, V., Clement, A., Somlyódy, L., Specziár, A., Tóth, L.G. and Padisák, J., 2007. Updating water quality targets for shallow Lake Balaton (Hungary), recovering from eutrophication. Hydrobiologia , 581, 305–318. CrossRef
Jacobsen L., Berg S., Jepsen N. and Skov C., 2004. Does roach behaviour differ between shallow lakes of different environmental state? J. Fish Biol., 65, 135–147.
Jeppesen, E., Pekcam-Hekim, Z., Lauridsen, T., Søndergaard, M. and Jensen, J.P., 2006. Habitat distribution of fish in late summer: changes along a nutrient gradient in Danish lakes. Ecol. Freshw. Fish , 15, 180–190. CrossRef
Krebs C.J., 1989. Ecological Methodology, Harper and Row, New York, 654 p.
Kubečka J. and Prchalová M., 2006. Metodika odlovu a zpracování vzorků ryb stojatých vod, Výzkumný ústav vodohospodářský TGM, 22 p. (in Czech).
Lauridsen T.L., Søndergaard M., Jensen J.P. and Jeppesen E., 2005. Undersøgelser i søer – NOVANA. Danmarks Miljøundersøgelser, Teknisk anvisning fra DMU, 22, 234 p. (in Danish).
Lauridsen, T.L., Landkildehus, F., Jeppesen, E., Jørgensen, T.B. and Søndergaard, M., 2008. A comparison of methods for calculating Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) of gill net catches in lakes. Fish. Res. , 93, 204–211. CrossRef
Mehner, T., Diekmann, M., Brämic, U. and Lemcke, R., 2005. Comparison of fish communities in German lakes as related to lake morphology, trophic state, shore structure and human use intensity. Freshw. Biol. , 50, 70–85. CrossRef
Mortensen E., Jerl Jensen H., Müller J.-P. and Timmermann M., 1990. Fiskeundersøgelser i søer – Undersøgelsesprogram, fiskeredskaber og metoder. Danmarks Miljøundersøgelser, 1990, Teknisk anvisning fra DMU, 3, 57 p. (in Danish).
Olin, M. and Malinen, T., 2003. Comparison of gillnet and trawl in diurnal fish community sampling. Hydrobiologia , 506–509, 443–449. CrossRef
Olin, M., Rask, M., Ruuhijärvi, J., Kurkilahti, M., Ala-Opas, P. and Ylönen, O., 2002. Fish community structure in mesotrophic and eutrophic lakes of southern Finland: the relative abundance of percids and cyprinids along a trophic gradient. J. Fish Biol. , 60, 593–612. CrossRef
Olin, M., Kurkilahti, M., Peitola, P. and Ruuhijärvi, J., 2004. The effects of fish accumulation on the catchability of multimesh gillnet. Fish. Res. , 68, 135–147. CrossRef
Olin, M., Malinen, T. and Ruuhijärvi, J., 2009. Gillnet catch in estimating the density and structure of fish community – Comparison of gillnet and trawl samples in a eutrophic lake. Fish. Res. , 96, 88–94. CrossRef
Peltonen, H., Ruuhijärvi, J., Malinen, T. and Horppila, J., 1999. Estimation of roach (Rutilus rutilus (L.)) and smelt (Osmerus eperlanus (L.)) stocks with virtual population analysis, hydroacustics and gillnet CPUE. Fish. Res. , 44, 25–36. CrossRef
Prchalová, M., Kubečka, J., Říha M., Litvín R., Čech M., Frouzová J., Hladík M., Hohausová E., Peterka J. and Vašek M., 2008. Overestimation of percid fishes (Percidae) in gillnet sampling. Fish. Res. , 91, 79–87. CrossRef
Prchalová, M., Kubečka, J., Říha M., Mrkvička T., Vašek M., Jůza T., Kratochvíl M., Peterka J., Draštík V. and Křížek J., 2009. Size selectivity of standardized multimesh gillnets in sampling coarse European species. Fish. Res. , 96, 51–57. CrossRef
Rask, M., Olin, M., Keskitalo, J., Lehtovaara, A., Ruuhijärvi, J. and Vesala, S., 2003. Responses of plankton and fish communities to mass removal of planktivorous fish in a two-basin lake in southern Finland. Hydrobiologia , 506–509, 451–457. CrossRef
Specziár A., 2001. Impacts of the activity of fish on the results of gillnet samplings: diurnal and seasonal changes of the CPUE in Lake Balaton. Hidrol. Közl., 81, 5/6, 459–461 (in Hungarian).
Specziár A., Tölg L. and Bíró P., 2000, Investigation of Lake Balaton's fish fauna. Halászatfejlesztés, 24, 115–125 (in Hungarian).
Sutela T., Rask M., Vehanen T. and Westermark A., 2008. Comparison of electrofishing and NORDIC gillnets for sampling littoral fish in boreal lakes. Lakes Reserv.: Res. Manage., 13, 215–220.
Tátrai, I., Specziár, A., György, Á.I. and Bíró, P., 2008. Comparison of fish size distribution and fish abundance estimates obtained with hydroacoustics and gill netting in the open water of a large shallow lake. Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim. , 44, 231–240. CrossRef
Vašek, M., Kubečka, J., Čech, M., Draštík, V., Matěna, J., Mrkvička, T., Peterka, J. and Prchalová, M., 2009. Diel variation in gillnet catches and vertical distribution of pelagic fishes in a stratified European reservoir. Fish. Res. , 96, 64–69. CrossRef