It may be shocking to watch, but it’s all for the sake of science.
Jefferson High School’s head wrestling coach, Troy Humphrey, also works as a conservation tech for Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Each year, Humphrey puts on a fish shocking (electro-fishing) demonstration for Steve McCauley’s ecology students.
“It’s nice to have people like Troy, who work in ecology careers, interact with our students so they know what type of occupations are available in science,” said McCauley.
Electrofishing allows fish biologists to conduct population studies and sampling. They can then estimate the numbers of fish in a given area, said McCauley.
The fish are shocked/drawn in by DC current from what’s called a backpack shocker. It stuns them and allows fish biologists to net them. They can then be measured, marked and returned for later sampling days, said McCauley.
Humphrey said they typically look at brown and rainbow trout, mountain white fish and mottled sculpin, which live in the Boulder River. Humprey has been doing the demo for about 10 years as a teaching exercise.
