Wednesday February 15, 2017
Smith-Root –
The 7 year drought in California has come to an end. Despite near record precipitation, Southern California still has a huge need to import large volumes of water from Northern California. Several government agencies and private companies are responsible for not only transferring water in large canals to Southern California, but they are also responsible for monitoring the impact that the water transfers have on fish.
One of the most valuable tools scientists have to evaluate these impacts to fish is with Electrofishing equipment, especially Electrofishing boats.
For the second time in a year, California Department of Water Resources, along with ESA, ICF, and FISHBIO contracted Smith-Root to train and certify their Electrofishing crews in best Electrofishing practices and safety. Patrick Cooney, Director of Electrofishing Science, and Phong Nguyen, Research Scientist, provided the two day training in Sacramento and Clifton Court Forebay.
Students in the class ranged from having thousands of logged hours to zero hours of Electrofishing experience. Despite the differences in experience, all students demonstrated a measurable improvement in comprehension and execution of methods in the field. All members expressed tremendous value and utility in the course.