Contact
Erik Myrstener, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Analyst
Department of Aquatic Resources, Institute of Freshwater Research, SLU
SERS@slu.se, +46 10-478 42 25
Database for electrofishing in streams (SERS)
Last changed: 27 March 2023
Welcome to the electrofishing database. Here you can download data from more than 81,000 electrofishing surveys, distributed over approximately 22,000 sites. You can also find information about how to conduct environmental monitoring using electrofishing as a method. The database for electrofishing in streams (SERS) is the Swedish national database for electrofishing data and has been in use since 1989. All data is publicly available.
Data used in research, lists of threatened species and ecological status
The database for electrofishing in streams (SERS) is officially called the Swedish Electrofishing Register (SERS).
Data is used in national evaluations, for example, in assessing the ecological status of Sweden’s watercourses, but also in monitoring fisheries conservation measures (e.g. liming, construction of bypasses for fish, biotope restoration). Data is also used in research projects and in national compilations, such as the Red List of Threatened Species by SLU Swedish Species Information Centre.
Download data, protocols and everything you need for conducting electrofishing in water
In the tabs below you will find everything you need to help you conduct electrofishing. We also offer electrofishing training courses. In the publication list below you will find some of the many reports published by the Department of Aquatic Resources where data from the database for electrofishing in streams (SERS) is used.
Download data
Search and get data data from the Swedish Electrofishing Register (Sers)
Diagram showing number of investigated sites monitored waters
Data from Sers can also be downloaded via API:er at Swedish Biodiversity Data Infrastructure (SBDI).
Primary data can be ordered, see contact below.
Citation guide
Citation guide when using data from the database for electrofishing in streams
- The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management is responsible for coordinating water-related environmental monitoring in Sweden. If you use data from the database for electrofishing in streams in your publication, you should state that this has been produced within the framework of coordinated Swedish environmental monitoring.
- Data can be cited as follows:
Sers, B. (Editor). 2013. Swedish Electrofishing RegiSter – SERS. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Department of Aquatic Resources. http://www.slu.se/electrofishingdatabase. [yyyy-mm-dd]
Instruction for performing electrofishing
Survey types and methods
- SVENSK STANDARD · SS-EN 14011. Vattenundersökningar - Provtagning av fisk med elektricitet
- Standardiserat elfiske i vattendrag. En manual med praktiska råd. Aqua reports 2014:15
- Undersökningstyp. Fisk i rinnande vatten - Vadningselfiske Version 1:8 2017-04-25 (pdf)
- Anvisningar för elfiske riktat efter ålyngel inom Data Collection Framework (DCF)
Guides for using the protocols
Protocols with instructions
1. Protocols for electrofishing with instructions
2. List of electrofishing sites in the database with coordinates with the format RT90, SWEREF99 and WGS84 (excel) (in Swedish)
Pre-filled protocols for the Swedish counties
Below you can download digital pre-filled protocols for all Swedish counties. Note that the protocols contain up-to-date information about the previously surveyed sites. If a survey is to be conducted in a new site, please use the protocol above (No. 1).
You can find the instructions about how to fill in the protocols under the heading Guides for using the protocols.
01 County of Stockholm
03 County of Uppsala
04 County of Södermanland
05 County of Östergötland
06 County of Jönköping
07 County of Kronoberg
08 County of Kalmar
09 County of Gotland
10 County of Blekinge
12 County of Skåne
13 County of Halland
14 County of Västra Götaland
17 County of Värmland
18 County of Örebro
19 County of Västmanland
20 County of Dalarna
21 County of Gävleborg
22 County of Västernorrland
23 County of Jämtland
24 County of Västerbotten
25 County of Norrbotten
Education and permits
Instruction – Carrying out monitoring with an electric current (in Swedish) (version 2020-06-16)
What you need before you start
- approved training in electrofishing
- a course in handling animals for experimentation
- approval from the owner of the fishing rights
- permission to fish with electrical current (fill in the form and send it to the County Administrative Board)
- an operating license
- an animal welfare agency
- an approved animal experiment ethics application (link to the Swedish Board of Agriculture)
SLU data hosting
The Department of Aquatic Resources are data hosts for data on fish on behalf of the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management. We deliver quality-assured data from test fishing within national and regional environmental monitoring and liming programs. With our efforts, the outside world gets faster access to the latest results. Information about data hosting is also available on the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management's website.
Fish in the assessment of ecological status
- Fisk i vattendrag. Vägledning för statusklassning. Havs- och vattenmyndighetens rapport 2018:37
- Degerman, E., Sers, B. & K. Magnusson (2016). Jämför- och referensvärden från Svenskt Elfiskeregister – Perioden 2008-2015. Aqua reports 2016:14. Institutionen för akvatiska resurser, Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, Drottningholm Lysekil Öregrund. 64 s.
- Excelfil för beräkning av bedömningsgrunderna VIX, VIXmorf, VIXsm, VIXh, VIXmod1 och VIXmod2
Publications about electrofishing
Publications about electrofishing published by the Department of Aquatic Resources
- Jämför- och referensvärden från Svenskt Elfiskeregister – Perioden 2008-2015 Aqua reports 2016:14
- Bedömning av morfologisk påverkan i vattendrag med elfiskedata Aqua reports 2015:17
- Standardiserat elfiske i vattendrag – en manual med praktiska råd Aqua reports 2014:15
- Hur stora är årsungar och fjolårsungar av öring vid elfiske? Information från Svenskt ElfiskeRegiSter. Nr 1, 2010.
- Artförekomst perioden 1988-2007 i Svenskt ElfiskeRegiSter – förändras arternas förekomst över tid? Information från Svenskt ElfiskeRegiSter. Nr 1, 2009.
- Jämförelsevärden från Svenskt Elfiskeregister. Information från Svenskt ElfiskeRegiSter. Nr 1, 2008.
- Bedömningsgrunder för fiskfaunans status i rinnande vatten - utveckling och tillämpning av VIX. Finfo 2007:5.
- Beståndsstatus hos insjööring i södra Sverige. Information från Svenskt ElfiskeRegiSter. Nr 1, 2006.
Publications about electrofishing
- Degerman et al. 2019. Occurrence and habitat use of European eel (Anguilla anguilla) in running waters: lessons for improved monitoring, habitat restoration and stocking. Aquatic ecology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-019-09714-3
- Göthe et al. 2019. Flow restoration and the impacts of multiple stressors on fish communities in regulated rivers. Journal of Applied Ecology, 00:1-16.
- Donadi et al. 2019. Country-wide analysis of large wood as a driver of fish abundance in Swedish streams: who benefits and where? Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 29:706-716.
- Tamario et al. 2019. Coastal river connectivity and the distribution of ascending juvenile European eel (Anguilla anguilla L.) – implications for conservation strategies regarding fish passage solutions. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, 2019:1-11. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aqc.3064
- Analys av elfiskedata. Meddelande 2012:12. Länsstyrelsen i Jönköpings län.
- Fisk i vattendrag och stora sjöar - Metoder för övervakning. Rapport 2010:07. Länsstyrelsen i Stockholms län.
- Signalkräftan fortsätter expandera. Fauna och Flora nr 1, 2009.
- Are fish populations in temperate streams affected by crayfish – A field survey. Environmental Biology of Fishes (2006).
- Död ved i vattendrag. Effekten av skogsålder och naturlig skyddszon på mängd död ved.November 2005. Världsnaturfonden WWF.
- Fiskbeståndens utveckling i skogsvattendrag i Norrlands inland. WWF, december 2005.
- Fisk i skogsbäckar. WWF, december 2005.
- Large woody debris and brown trout in small forest streams – towards targets for assessment and management of riparian landscapes. Ecological Bulletins 51: 233–239, 2004.