Abstract
Brown trout (Salmo trutta) population of a remote high mountain lake (Lake Redó, Pyrenees, 2240 m above sea level) were studied during autumn using hydroacoustic techniques. This acoustic technique was for the first time used on fish at such high altitude in Spain. Sampling using multimesh nets fish catches and echosounding recording were carried out in September 1998. Mean density of fish was estimated to be 1.82 fish per 1000 m3 (597 fish ha−1). The results exhibited mainly a littoral habitat, with the brown trout being preferentially in the 10–25 m deep layer, where the water was warmer and the richness and diversity of macroinvertebrates higher. The sampling by hydroacoustic technique found a length frequency range of fish higher than the multimesh gill nets but both of them estimated similar fish proportion for the common length range. The more frequent target strength (TS) for the population was −38 dB (TS range −37 to −39 dB). Good correlation was found between TS frequency distribution obtained by echosounding and that predicted by means of a model based on the log of the fish total length from multimesh gill nets captures.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bjerkeng, B., R. Borgstrom, A. Brabrand & B. B. Faafeng, 1991. Fish size distribution and total biomass estimated by hydroacoustical methods: a statistical approach. Fish. Res. 11: 41–73.
Brenner, T., J. Clasen, K. Lange & T. Lindem, 1987. The whitefish (Coregonus laveretus L.) of the Wahnbach Reservoir and their assessment by hydroacoustic methods. Schweiz. Z. Hydrol. 49/3: 363–372.
Brosse, S., S. Lek & F. Dauba. 1999. Predicting fish distribution in a mesotrophic lake by hydroacoustic survey and artificial neural networks. Limnol. Oceanogr. 44 (5): 1293–1303.
Camarero, L., J. Catalán, S. Plá, M. Rieradevall, M. Jiménez, N. Prat, A. Rodríguez, L. Encina, L. Cruz–Pizarro, P. Sánchez–Castillo, P. Carrillo, M. Toro, J. Grimalt, L. Berdie, P. Fernéndez & R. Vilanova, 1995. Remote mountain lakes as indicators of diffuse acidic and organic pollution in the Iberian Peninsula (AL:PE2 Studies). Wat. Air Soil Pollut. 85: 487–492.
Craig, R. E. & S. T. Forbes, 1969. Design of a sonar for fish counting. Fiskeridiv. Skr. Ser. Havunders. 15: 210–219.
Downing, J. A., 1993. Production of fish populations in lakes. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 50: 110–120.
Gerlotto, F., S. Georgakarakos & P. K. Eriksen, 2000. The aplication of multibeam sonar technology for quantitative estimates of fish density in shallow water acoustic surveys. Aquat. Living Resour. 13: 385–393.
Granado–Lorencio, C., L. Encina, C. Escot, E. Mellado & A. Rodríguez–Ruíz, 1996. Una nueva metodología para la estima de las poblaciones de peces en embalses. Rev. Ing. Civil 103: 35–46.
Hruska, V., 1989. Abundance and the spatial distribution of fish echotraces in the Rimov reservoir. Arch. Hydrobiol. 33: 615–617.
Jurvelius, J., T. Lindem & J. Louhimo, 1984. The number of pelagic fish in Lake Paasivesi, Finland, monitored by hydroacoustic methods. Fish. Res. 2: 273–283.
Kubecka, J. & M. Wittingerova, 1998. Horizontal beaming as a crucial component of acoustic fish stock assessment in freshwater reservoir. Fish. Res. 35: 99–106.
Kubecka, J., A. Duncan & A. J. Butterworth, 1992. Echo counting or echo integration for fish biomass assessment in shallow waters. In Weydert, M. (ed.), European Conference on Underwater Acoustic. Elsevier: 129–132.
Kubecka, J., A. Duncan, W. M. Duncan, D. Sinclair & A. J. Butterworth, 1994. Brown trout populations of three Scottish lochs estimated by horizontal sonar and multimesh gill nets. Fish. Res. 22: 15–21.
Lévéque, C., 1995. L’habitat: Être au bon endroit au bon moment? Bull. fr. Piscic. 337/338/339: 9–20.
Lindem, T., 1982. Successes with conventional in situ determinations of fish target strength. International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES): Symp. Fish. Acoust., Bergen, Norway, 21–24 June 1982, Contr. 53: 1–18.
Lindem, T., 1992. Hydro Acoustic Data Acquisition System HADAS. Version 4.01 Supporting the SIMRAD EY–M and EY–2000 Echosounder. Instruction Manual.
MacLennan, D. N. & E. J. Simmonds, 1992. Fisheries Acoustics. Chapman & Hall, New York: 325 pp.
Moszynski, M. & J. B. Hedgepeth, 2000. Using single–beam sidelobe observations of fish echoes for fish target streangth and abundance estimation in shallow water. Aquat. Living Resour. 13: 379–383.
Mulligan, T., 2000. Shallow water fisheries sonar: a personal view. Aquat. Living Resor. 13: 269–273.
Nelson, R. L., W. S. Platts, D. P. Larsen & S. E. Jensen, 1992. Brown trout distribution and habitat in relation to geology and geomorphology in the North Fork Humboldt River drainage, Northeastern Nevada. Trans. am. Fish. Soc 121: 405–426.
Rieradevall, M.,M. Jiménez & N. Prat, 1998. The zoobenthos of six remote high mountain lakes in Spain and Portugal. Verh. int. Ver. Limnol. 26: 2132–2136.
Robison, C. J., J. Gómez–Gutiérrez, R. Félix–Uraga & V. Arenas–Fuentes, 2000. Seasonal hydro–acoustical observations of small pelagic fish behavior in Bahía Magdalena, Mexico. Aquat. Living Resour. 13: 11–18.
Rosseland, B. O., J. Grimalt, L. Lien, R. Hofer, J. C. Massabua, B. Morrison, A. Rodríguez, T. Moiseenko, J. Galas & J. B. Birks, 1997. FISH. Population structure and concentrations of heavy metals and organic micropollutants. In Wathne, B. M., S. Patrick & N. Cameron (eds), AL:PE–Acidification of Mountain Lakes: Paleolimnology and Ecology. Part 2: Remote Mountain Lakes as Indicators of Air Pollution and Climate Change. Research Report No. 3638–97 (ISBN 82–577–3198–6). Norwegian Institute for Water Research. OSLO.
Rosenzweig, M. L., 1991. Habitat selection and population interactions: The search for mechanisms. Am. Nat. 137: 5–28.
Thorne, R. E., 1983. Hydroacoustic. In Nielsen, A. & D. L. Johnson (eds), Fisheries Techniques. American Fisheries Society: 239–259.
Ventura, M., L. Camarero, T. Buchaca, F. Bartumeus, D. M. Livingstone & J. Catalan, 2000. The main features of seasonal variability in the external forcing and dynamics of a deep mountain lake (Redó, Pyrenees). J. Limnol. 59 (1): 97–108.
Wathne, B. M., S. T. Patrick, D. Monteith & H. Barth (eds), 1995. AL:PE 1 Report for the Period April 1991–April 1993. Ecosystem Research Report 9, European Commission Report EUR 16129 EN.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Encina, L., Rodríguez-Ruiz, A. Abundance and distribution of a brown trout (Salmo trutta, L.) population in a remote high mountain lake. Hydrobiologia 493, 35–42 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025473309016
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025473309016