Standard Sampling of Inland Fish: Benefits, Challenges, and a Call for Action

There are many examples of how standardization of procedures in production and data collection have led to remarkable advances in industry and science, but standardization is lacking regarding protocols for sampling fish populations in inland, freshwater systems. Reasons given why biologists often resist standardized sampling protocols include perceptions that differences in regions invalidate standard techniques; use of standard sampling is costly and reduces innovation by regional biologists; the variation already present in nature masks any gains introduced by standardization; and historical trend data is lost. We examine these reasons and provide procedures that may serve as a template by describing how development and implementation of standardized sampling protocols were achieved by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. These procedures included obtaining support from high-level management within the agency and input from a wide variety of sources; emphasizing benefits to management biologists; designing procedures to be simple and cost-effective; minimizing variation in catchability and maximizing catch; providing techniques for determining sample sizes; and field testing, reviewing methods, and training crews before implementation. Standardization can provide clear benefits and we discuss the option of developing nation-wide or continent-wide standards with leadership by the American Fisheries Society.