Comparison of a High Volume Pump and Conventional Plankton Nets for Collecting Fish Larvae Entrained in Power Plant Cooling Systems

A high volume pump (2.5 m3/min capacity at 6 m head) and conventional plankton nets (0.5 and 1.0 m diam) were operated side by side in two tests to evaluate the efficiency of each gear for sampling fish larvae within the intake structure of a coastal power plant. At intake channel current velocities up to 40 cm/s (the maximum tested), the pump in one test caught significantly more fish larvae than the nets. Compared to the pump, both sizes of plankton nets in each test greatly undersampled large larvae (over 5.0 mm total length). Our findings suggest that conclusions regarding ichthyoplankton entrainment based on data obtained with conventional plankton nets may be of questionable validity. Key words: ichthyoplankton, entrainment, pump, nets