Standard Methods for Sampling Freshwater Fishes: Opportunities for International Collaboration Part 1

Increasingly, management and monitoring of fish and wildlife populations must be conducted across large landscapes.  Through publication of Standard Methods for Sampling North American Freshwater Fishes (2009), the American Fisheries Society (AFS), in partnership with 284 biologists from 107 state, federal, and local agencies and NGO’s, developed standard sampling procedures for freshwater fish in North America.  The ability to compare freshwater fish data collected in North America with those collected in other regions of the world can provide great benefits to fisheries managers.  The goal of this symposium is to investigate opportunities to standardize freshwater fish sampling methods among biologists in different countries to improve collaboration and communication.  Specific objectives of this symposium are to: (1) provide participants an overview of standard freshwater fish sampling methods in the AFS standard methods book and others used worldwide; (2) present examples of how standard sampling programs are currently being used; (3) convene a facilitated discussion among participants to solicit ideas about how participants in various programs can best collaborate; and (4) aggregate ideas into a report of recommendations.