Freshwater Fish Community Monitoring in PEI National Park

Four ponds within Prince Edward Island National Park are monitored annually for fish species diversity and American eel metrics. The dataset includes measures of American eel abundance as catch per unit effort (CUE), total length, and species abundance recorded per net. Monitoring provides a link to functional freshwater measures and is used to assess ecological integrity against historical levels.

Use Cases

• Analyze trends in American eel abundance (CUE) and total length across the four monitored ponds to assess population health and recruitment.
• Model fish species diversity relationships with environmental factors like water temperature and productivity mentioned in the monitoring program.
• Track individual American eels over time using PIT tag recapture data to study movement and survival within the pond system.

Strengths

• Annual monitoring provides a consistent time series for tracking ecological changes.
• Data collection uses standardized methods with hoop traps and gee-type minnow traps across nine trap sectors per pond.
• Includes specific biological metrics like American eel catch per unit effort (CUE) and total length.

Limitations

• Geographic scope is limited to only four ponds within a single national park.
• Sample data and specific row/column counts are unavailable, limiting assessment of dataset scale and structure.

Provenance

Source

Parks Canada

Collection Method

Field sampling using hoop traps and gee-type minnow traps over a three-day period per pond, with species abundance recorded per net and American eels measured and PIT tagged.

Time Range

Annual monitoring, compared against historical levels.

Freshness

Updated annually, with a last recorded update in March 2026.

Geography

Four ponds within Prince Edward Island National Park, Canada.