Harold L. Schramm, Jr., Mississippi Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Mississippi State, MS 39762. Lawrence L. Pugh, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762

Abstract. We compared sampling costs exclusive of personnel costs of two types of hoop nets and two types of pulsed DC electrofishing in lotic habitats in main and secondary channels of the Lower Mississippi River. Sampling costs were based on completing 241 samples with 61-cm diameter hoop nets, 233 samples with 122-cm diameter hoop nets, 155 samples with low-frequency pulsed DC electrofishing, and 165 samples with high-frequency pulsed DC electrofishing. Hoop net sampling cost less ($4.15-11.20 per net night) than electrofishing ($15.26-16.42 per 5-minute sample). Standardizing sampling effort to personnel-hour, hoop net sampling cost $13.83-37.33 per unit effort and electrofishing cost $25.44-27.06 per unit effort. Cost per fish was $3.04-8.97 for hoop net sampling and $0.68-1.33 for electrofishing. Replacement of lost and unretrievable hoop nets substantially increased the cost of hoop net sampling.