In fisheries, there is a long tradition to use catch data when evaluating changes in the stock and effects from harvesting. It is a common practice to use Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) as an index of population size, and several studies have investigated the properties of CPUE in relation to population abundance, spatial distribution and efficiency of gear. In research, catch rate on trap-transects is used as an index of abundance for wildlife species but CPUE is rarely applied as a tool in harvest management.In 1993, more than 60 000 km2 of the state managed mountain range in Sweden was opened to the public for small game hunting, under the responsibility of the county administrative boards in Jämtland, Västerbotten and Norrbotten. The total area is now divided into 332 hunting units (median=73 km2) and an internet based system is used to administer licences and reporting bag statistic. Each hunter has to register the results within two weeks after the hunt.

During the last two hundred years many wetlands and streams in Sweden have been lowered to provide land for agriculture and forestry. Some of the coastal wetlands and streams probably served as spawning sites for certain species of fish in the Baltic Sea, but the present situation is not well known. As standardized methods to monitor fish in running waters are carried out during late summer or autumn, there is a need for methods to sample spring-spawning fish in these streams.The aim of this study was to survey the lower kilometer stretch of Hammerstaån in Stockholm, to investigate the extent to which the stream is used by spring-spawning fish. Furthermore, the study aims to evaluate a new type of survey fishing gill net called strömöversiktsnät (SÖN). This was done by comparing the catch of fish by SÖN with that of fyke nets.

During the last two hundred years many wetlands and streams in Sweden have been lowered to provide land for agriculture and forestry. Some of the coastal wetlands and streams probably served as spawning sites for certain species of fish in the Baltic Sea, but the present situation is not well known. As standardized methods to monitor fish in running waters are carried out during late summer or autumn, there is a need for methods to sample spring-spawning fish in these streams.The aim of this study was to survey the lower kilometer stretch of Hammerstaån in Stockholm, to investigate the extent to which the stream is used by spring-spawning fish. Furthermore, the study aims to evaluate a new type of survey fishing gill net calledströmöversiktsnät (SÖN). This was done by comparing the catch of fish by SÖN with that of fyke nets.