IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i3p1124-d316652.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

An Evaluation of Restocking Practice and Demographic Stock Assessment Methods for Cryptic Juvenile European Eel in Upland Rivers

Author

Listed:
  • Billy Nzau Matondo

    (Laboratory of Fish Demography and Hydroecology, Biology of Behaviour Unit, Freshwater and Oceanic science Unit of Research-FOCUS, University of Liège, 22 Quai E. Van Beneden, B-4020 Liège, Belgium)

  • Jean-Philippe Benitez

    (Laboratory of Fish Demography and Hydroecology, Biology of Behaviour Unit, Freshwater and Oceanic science Unit of Research-FOCUS, University of Liège, 22 Quai E. Van Beneden, B-4020 Liège, Belgium)

  • Arnaud Dierckx

    (Laboratory of Fish Demography and Hydroecology, Biology of Behaviour Unit, Freshwater and Oceanic science Unit of Research-FOCUS, University of Liège, 22 Quai E. Van Beneden, B-4020 Liège, Belgium)

  • Xavier Rollin

    (DGO3-DNF-Fisheries Service, Public Service of Wallonia, 5100 Jambes, Belgium)

  • Michaël Ovidio

    (Laboratory of Fish Demography and Hydroecology, Biology of Behaviour Unit, Freshwater and Oceanic science Unit of Research-FOCUS, University of Liège, 22 Quai E. Van Beneden, B-4020 Liège, Belgium)

Abstract

Restocking of the critically endangered European eel Anguilla anguilla is widespread, but it is rarely scientifically evaluated. Methods used to assess its associated performance by estimating the survival rate and implement restocking for maximum recruitment in rivers have not yet been investigated. Based on two glass eel restocking events using a single release site/point and multiple sites per river performed in upland rivers (>340 km from the North Sea), the recruitment success of stocked eels was scientifically evaluated during a 3-year study using multiple capture-mark-recapture methods and mobile telemetry. We compared the observed data with the data estimated from the Telemetry , De Lury and Jolly-Seber stock assessment methods. For recruitment data, Telemetry was very close to Jolly-Seber , an appropriate stock assessment method for open populations. Using the best model of Jolly-Seber , survival probability was higher (>95%) in both restocking practices, but recruitment yields were higher and densities of stocked eels were lower in multiple sites compared to a single site. Our results suggest that Telemetry can help to rapidly assess cryptic juvenile eel stocks with good accuracy under a limited number of capture-mark-recapture sessions. Artificial dispersal of glass eels on several productive habitats/sites per river appears to be the better-suited practice for restocking.

Suggested Citation

  • Billy Nzau Matondo & Jean-Philippe Benitez & Arnaud Dierckx & Xavier Rollin & Michaël Ovidio, 2020. "An Evaluation of Restocking Practice and Demographic Stock Assessment Methods for Cryptic Juvenile European Eel in Upland Rivers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-17, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:3:p:1124-:d:316652
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/3/1124/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/3/1124/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shirley Pledger & Kenneth H. Pollock & James L. Norris, 2010. "Open Capture–Recapture Models with Heterogeneity: II. Jolly–Seber Model," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 66(3), pages 883-890, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Hongmei & Ghosh, Kaushik & Ghosh, Pulak, 2012. "Sampling designs via a multivariate hypergeometric-Dirichlet process model for a multi-species assemblage with unknown heterogeneity," Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 56(8), pages 2562-2573.
    2. D. Dail & L. Madsen, 2013. "Estimating Open Population Site Occupancy from Presence–Absence Data Lacking the Robust Design," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 69(1), pages 146-156, March.
    3. Shirley Pledger & Edward Baker & Kim Scribner, 2013. "Breeding Return Times and Abundance in Capture–Recapture Models," Biometrics, The International Biometric Society, vol. 69(4), pages 991-1001, December.
    4. Nathan J Hostetter & Nicholas J Lunn & Evan S Richardson & Eric V Regehr & Sarah J Converse, 2021. "Age-structured Jolly-Seber model expands inference and improves parameter estimation from capture-recapture data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-19, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:3:p:1124-:d:316652. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.