Click here to view the video.

Dr Alan Temple, from the USFWS National Conservation Training Center will be teaching the course, assisted by Colton Perna. The course will consist of two days of classroom-based teaching focusing on electrofishing theory and safety, plus a day of field-based demonstrations and hands-on teaching – possibly at nearby Centennial Park.

The cost of the course will be AUD $1000 per person, including catering of lunch, morning tea and afternoon tea (payment details to be announced soon – either by UNSW invoice or credit card). Accommodation is
available close to the UNSW campus, or near Central Station (20 minutes by express bus).

Please register your intent to attend (or a list of attendees from your institution) by email to thomas.rayner@unsw.edu.au. The course will be limited to 30 students. If there is sufficient interest, a second course may be held during the following week, 2 November. Participants that successfully complete the final exam will receive a certificate from the USFWS.

See you there,

Tom Rayner.

We can offer the online training to anyone anywhere and we can offer the field practicum at your location based on a minimum enrollment (5+ people in order to re-coop some travel costs of the instructor). This course is recognized by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. This course does not meet the provincial regulations that exist in BC, and not does it meet the requirements of OMNR employee training – all others may take this course.

We have course fee reductions for First Nations groups and NGOs – please contact the CRI Training Coordinator for more information: Michelle Gray m.gray@unb.ca.

Course information also available at:

http://www.unb.ca/research/institutes/cri/opportunities/courses/electrofishing.html

Both the boat and backpack versions are three-day courses, with most
of the middle day devoted to getting hands-on experience in the field.
These will be the public course dates for this year:

BACKPACK electrofishing, March 23-25 in Santa Cruz, CA
http://nwetc.org/bio-407_03-09_santa_cruz.htm

BOAT electrofishing, May 20-22 in San Antonio, TX
http://nwetc.org/bio-408_05-09_san-antonio.htm

BACKPACK electrofishing, September 15-17 in Vancouver, WA
http://nwetc.org/bio-407_09-09_vancouver.htm

Full details and online registration forms are available through the
links above.

About the Instructor:
Dr. James B. (Jim) Reynolds is Professor Emeritus of Fisheries at the
University of Alaska Fairbanks where he served on the faculty during
1978-1999. Jim is a recognized authority on electrofishing and ecology
of northern fishes. He has taught electrofishing short courses to over
1,500 biologists in the U.S. and Canada, is the author of the chapter
on electrofishing in “Fisheries Techniques” published by the American
Fisheries Society and has written numerous research articles on the
subject. Jim is Past President of the Education and Fisheries History
sections and Missouri and Alaska chapters of the American Fisheries
Society. He also provided technical guidance for the NOAA Fisheries
electrofishing guidelines (see link above). Other instructors will
assist during the field portion of the class.

Registration:
$695 (*$595 reduced tuition available for Native American tribes;
government employees; nonprofits; students; and AFS, NAEP, NEBC, NWAEP
members).  Group discounts are available for any organization sending
more than one person – email me for details.  You may register via the
URLs above or by calling the Northwest Environmental Training Center
at 206-762-1976.

The new vessel will boost research programs being run in the two labs, including fine-scale responses of fish to environmental flows in arid-zone rivers and wetlands, such the Macquarie Marshes, and Australian Bass stocking and monitoring in coastal NSW. It may also be used for studies of electrofishing methods and effects on fish, plus external contract projects in the future.

With such a diverse range of projects in mind, we’ll need a shallow-drawing hull that can still deliver plenty of power and be used in the more open waters of the State’s larger impoundments. We’re thinking of either a flat-bottomed punt similar to NSW DPI – Fisheries’ PoleVolt&lt or a v-nosed flats boat like those used in the Florida Keys to chase Tarpon. An electrofishing boat built around the latter platform would probably be a world first.

An aluminium cat hull could be a seriously fast and effective electrofishing platform. Image: www.flatscat.com

Colton Perna, from the Australian Centre for Tropical Freshwater Research, will be advising the research team throughout the build and Dr Alan Temple, an Instructor at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service National Conservation Training Center, will visit UNSW in September 2009 to conduct an electrofishing  training course. The course will be open to all fisheries research and management professionals in Australia and NZ, with further details to be posted in the next couple of months.

The number of registered users has increased too and some interesting discussions have been underway on our email group.

If you have an idea for an article, pictures of your latest fieldtrip or new experiments to talk about, let me know and I’ll post them for you.

Just email thomas.rayner@unsw.edu.au

For the purposes of this forum, electrofishing is broadly defined to include aspects of fish and invertebrate behavior in electric fields, electric circuit and field theory, equipment design, operator safety, fish and invertebrate trauma, sampling design, standardization, efficiency, gear testing and applications, and any other scientific topics contributing to current understanding and practice of electrofishing.

Our hope is that discussion of ideas will predominate as use of the forum evolves, though announcements and news items that are of interest to a broad cross section of practitioners and researchers are welcome.

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The conference will be held at the Swiss Grand Resort and Spa, Bondi Beach, Sydney from 15-18 September.

Come and visit our display in the trade area.

Over the coming weeks, content such as articles, gear reviews and other resources will be added to the site.