Fish Passage (fish + passage)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Terms modified by Fish Passage

  • fish passage facility

  • Selected Abstracts


    Efficacy of a nature-like bypass channel in a Portuguese lowland river

    JOURNAL OF APPLIED ICHTHYOLOGY, Issue 5 2005
    J. M. Santos
    Summary Throughout Europe in the last decade there has been a steady shift away from more technical fish pass designs to more nature-like passes, such as nature-like bypass channels. Upstream fish passage in a nature-like bypass channel was investigated in a lowland river, the Lima River, for 117 days from March 2000 to May 2002. Fish passage was recorded using an automatic video recording system. Electrofishing samples within the bypass and below the weir were compared with species abundance found on the tape recordings. More than 7500 individuals of eight species passed through the bypass channel. Species composition was dominated by striped mullet (65.3%) and potamodromous species (34.3%), which used the bypass mainly at night. Of the environmental variables considered, bypass discharge explained most of the variation in the number of cyprinids, whereas water temperature was more important for diadromous species. Comparing species composition below the weir using passage recordings provided a useful tool to assess species efficacy of the bypass, although biological requirements should also be taken into account. This study proved the efficacy of the bypass for passage of almost all occurring species and life stages and also for providing suitable habitat for fish fauna, highlighting the use of these facilities for river restoration schemes. [source]


    Influence of seasonal, diel, lunar, and other environmental factors on upstream fish passage in the Igarapava Fish Ladder, Brazil

    ECOLOGY OF FRESHWATER FISH, Issue 3 2009
    P. M. Bizzotto
    Abstract,,, Upstream fish passage was evaluated during 12 months in the vertical-slot Igarapava Fish Ladder constructed around Igarapava Dam, in the heavily dammed Grande River, Southeast Brazil. A video monitoring system was used to observe 61,621 fish that passed the ladder, of which 93.5% were identified to 15 taxa. Among the migratory species, the most abundant were Pimelodus maculatus (33.6% of all fish), Leporinus octofasciatus (31.4%), Leporinus friderici (4.5%), and Prochilodus lineatus (3.1%). Seven taxa were classified as nonmigratory, and of these taxa, the small Bryconamericus stramineus was the most abundant (12.7%) of all fishes. Passage of the ,nonmigratory' taxa upstream in the ladder shows they are migratory in this system and have a strong behavioural drive to move to upstream habitat. Passage of most taxa had a strong seasonal pattern. While some species passed primarily during the day, others showed a distinct nocturnal pattern. Lunar phase and water temperature also strongly affected passage of some taxa. Rainfall and dam discharge had a small or null influence on most taxa; perhaps due to the fairly small catchment area of the reservoir and the highly regulated discharge at Igarapava Dam. [source]


    Non-salmonids in a salmonid fishway: what do 50 years of data tell us about past and future fish passage?

    FISHERIES MANAGEMENT & ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2007
    M. MALLEN-COOPER
    Abstract, Salmonid fishways have been used in many countries for non-salmonid fishes, including Australia, but generally with poor results. Trapping the entrance and exit of a 1:9 gradient salmonid fishway on the Murray River confirmed very poor passage of native fish, with <1% of the most abundant species ascending. Fifty years of fish passage monitoring showed the numbers of three native species declining by 95,100% and non-native fish becoming dominant. Fishways are now being designed for native fish and being quantitatively assessed, but daily flow management also needs to be addressed. The ecological model for passage of potamodromous fishes has changed from passing adults of a few species to one that incorporates the whole fish community, specifically: immature fish of large-bodied species that dominate numbers migrating upstream; a diverse range of movement strategies; and small-bodied species, crustaceans and low numbers of less-mobile species. [source]


    Guidelines for restoring connectivity around water mills: a population genetic approach to the management of riverine fish

    JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
    Joost A. M. Raeymaekers
    Summary 1While freshwater systems provide important goods and services for society, they are threatened by human activity. Fragmentation is one of the most serious ecological concerns in the riverine environment. 2Historical and cultural values may conflict with nature restoration. Here we use the Zwalm sub-basin (Scheldt basin, Belgium) as a case study for reconciling the restoration of the native fish fauna with the preservation of historical water mills (320,1000 years old). 3We assessed the genetic structure of a barrier-sensitive species, the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus, to estimate the impact of fragmentation on a local to catchment scale. We show how population genetic approaches may be used to generate guidelines for restoration and management, and advance the science of river restoration. 4Dispersal was lower in above- than in below-mill populations, and water mills provoked an average loss of almost 4% of the genetic variation. This loss accumulated to 40% over the entire system (~23 km, 13 barriers). The impact of individual mills strongly increased with upstream distance and water mill height. One mill provoked significant genetic differentiation, despite the presence of a fish passage. 5This detailed picture of the genetic connectivity in stickleback is indicative for the basin's depauperate fauna. Many species share the same migratory pathways and barriers to dispersal. The physical properties of the water mills are likely to have similar effects on species with a similar genetic structure to stickleback. 6Synthesis and applications. Population genetic studies may be particularly useful during the planning of river restoration and associated ecological studies. In the case of the Zwalm sub-basin, we propose a number of management actions, such as building new fish passages and translocating individuals to above-mill populations. These will counter the negative impact of the water mills on the genetic variation in aquatic fauna, whilst retaining their cultural,economical value and limiting the restoration costs. Simulations suggest that reassessment of stickleback genetic structure after a decade should reveal whether or not restoration actions have been effective. [source]


    Efficacy of a nature-like bypass channel in a Portuguese lowland river

    JOURNAL OF APPLIED ICHTHYOLOGY, Issue 5 2005
    J. M. Santos
    Summary Throughout Europe in the last decade there has been a steady shift away from more technical fish pass designs to more nature-like passes, such as nature-like bypass channels. Upstream fish passage in a nature-like bypass channel was investigated in a lowland river, the Lima River, for 117 days from March 2000 to May 2002. Fish passage was recorded using an automatic video recording system. Electrofishing samples within the bypass and below the weir were compared with species abundance found on the tape recordings. More than 7500 individuals of eight species passed through the bypass channel. Species composition was dominated by striped mullet (65.3%) and potamodromous species (34.3%), which used the bypass mainly at night. Of the environmental variables considered, bypass discharge explained most of the variation in the number of cyprinids, whereas water temperature was more important for diadromous species. Comparing species composition below the weir using passage recordings provided a useful tool to assess species efficacy of the bypass, although biological requirements should also be taken into account. This study proved the efficacy of the bypass for passage of almost all occurring species and life stages and also for providing suitable habitat for fish fauna, highlighting the use of these facilities for river restoration schemes. [source]


    Migration of landlocked brown trout in two Scandinavian streams as revealed from trap data

    ECOLOGY OF FRESHWATER FISH, Issue 3 2004
    J. Carlsson
    Abstract,,, Anthropogenic barriers that may interfere or prevent fish migration are commonly found in streams throughout the distribution of salmonids. Construction of fish passages in streams is a common solution to this problem. However, the goal with fish passages is often, at least in Scandinavia, to allow Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and migratory brown trout (S. trutta L.) to get access to spawning areas above these barriers. Hence, the fish passages may often only be open during the spawning migration of salmonids (late summer to autumn). We present data, on wild brown trout migration, from two trapping systems in two Scandinavian streams showing that intra- and interstream migrations are common throughout the summer and autumn. Moreover, differences in size were found between trap-caught trout and electrofished trout where trapped trout were generally larger than electrofished trout. We suggest that the current regime with fish passages only open parts of the year can have negative effects on populations by depriving trout from the possibility to perform migrations throughout the year. Resumen 1. Barreras de origin antrópico que pueden interferer o prevenir las migraciones de los peces son frecuentes a lo largo de las áreas de distribución de los salmónidos. Una solución común a este problema es la construcción de pasos. Si embargo, el fin general de estos pasos es, por lo menos en Escandinavia, permitir el acceso a las áreas de reproducción por encima de las barreras tanto a salmones (Salmo salar L.) como a truchas migratorias (S. trutta L.). Frecuentemente, estos pasos están solamente abiertos durante el período de migración reproductiva (final del verano y otoño) porque se piensa que este régimen no tiene consecuencias negativas ya que estas especies muestran movimientos muy limitados en otros periodos del año. 2. Presentamos datos sobre migraciones de truchas colectados en dos sistemas de trampas de dos ríos escandinavos. Un río localizado por encima de una catarata inaccesible. El segundo, con una población migratoria de truchas. Los datos indicaron claramente migraciones intensivas a lo largo de todo el período en el que las trampas estuvieron operativas. Ambos ríos mostraron un pico de migración aguas arriba a mediados de Julio. Migraciones aguas abajo fueron raramente observadas en la población por encima de la catarata aunque migraciones aguas abajo en la población del río fueron intensivas al final del otoño. 3. Sugerimos que el régimen actual de pasos de peces que abren solamente partes del año puede tener efectos negativos sobre las poblaciones, al privar a las truchas de la posibilidad de migrar a lo largo del año. Esto puede extenderse a otros sistemas con barreras ya que observamos también migraciones intensivas en la población localizada por encima de la catarata. [source]


    Guidelines for restoring connectivity around water mills: a population genetic approach to the management of riverine fish

    JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2009
    Joost A. M. Raeymaekers
    Summary 1While freshwater systems provide important goods and services for society, they are threatened by human activity. Fragmentation is one of the most serious ecological concerns in the riverine environment. 2Historical and cultural values may conflict with nature restoration. Here we use the Zwalm sub-basin (Scheldt basin, Belgium) as a case study for reconciling the restoration of the native fish fauna with the preservation of historical water mills (320,1000 years old). 3We assessed the genetic structure of a barrier-sensitive species, the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus, to estimate the impact of fragmentation on a local to catchment scale. We show how population genetic approaches may be used to generate guidelines for restoration and management, and advance the science of river restoration. 4Dispersal was lower in above- than in below-mill populations, and water mills provoked an average loss of almost 4% of the genetic variation. This loss accumulated to 40% over the entire system (~23 km, 13 barriers). The impact of individual mills strongly increased with upstream distance and water mill height. One mill provoked significant genetic differentiation, despite the presence of a fish passage. 5This detailed picture of the genetic connectivity in stickleback is indicative for the basin's depauperate fauna. Many species share the same migratory pathways and barriers to dispersal. The physical properties of the water mills are likely to have similar effects on species with a similar genetic structure to stickleback. 6Synthesis and applications. Population genetic studies may be particularly useful during the planning of river restoration and associated ecological studies. In the case of the Zwalm sub-basin, we propose a number of management actions, such as building new fish passages and translocating individuals to above-mill populations. These will counter the negative impact of the water mills on the genetic variation in aquatic fauna, whilst retaining their cultural,economical value and limiting the restoration costs. Simulations suggest that reassessment of stickleback genetic structure after a decade should reveal whether or not restoration actions have been effective. [source]