Graduate students enter fishery data at Apache Lake in Arizona

Graduate students at the Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit calibrate gear and test new fish sampling techniques (hydroacoustics, electrofishing boat operation) in Western canyon-bound reservoirs in Arizona.  The research compares Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) sampling protocols with American Fisheries Society (AFS) standard methods; facilitate AZGFD’s adoption of AFS standard sampling techniques they are not already using; and to help inform the next edition of AFS’ Standard Methods for Sampling North American Freshwater Fishes, a sampling guide being used by fisheries biologists across North America. Standardization of fisheries sampling across North America has many positive benefits.