Fish Community - Prince Edward Island

Freshwater ponds are monitored annually for fish species diversity and American eel abundance (catch per unit effort, or CUE), and American eel total length. Hoop traps and gee-type minnow traps are used to sample fish communities in four ponds within PEI National Park. Each pond is sampled over a three day period with a fishing effort of 3 trap nights in 9 different trap sectors of a pond. Species abundance is recorded for each net. Additionally, American eels are measured for total length and PIT tagged for monitoring recaptures. Fish community monitoring provides a measure of pond biodiversity and provides a link to functional freshwater monitoring measures (e.g., water temperature, productivity). Mean eel length will provide information on the health of the population by assessing recruitment. Fish community species diversity, American eel length and abundance, in the ponds of PEI National Park are assessed annually and compared against historical levels to assess ecological integrity.

Organization: Parks Canada | Parcs Canada

Last modified: 2026-03-09T15:01:30.773049