Effectiveness monitoring of fish passage facilities: historical trends, geographic patterns and future directions

Abstract

Fishways and other passage facilities frequently prevent or delay the passage of fishes, highlighting the need for effectiveness monitoring. We reviewed the scientific literature from 1960 to 2008 reporting on effectiveness monitoring of fish passage facilities to assess what taxa and life-stages have been studied, the questions that are asked during evaluation, and how these varied over time or by geographic region. We identified 96 peer-reviewed articles of which 68% focused on passage by adult fishes. Salmoniformes was the most studied order (58% of studies). The focus of fishway evaluations did not change over the years, but varied significantly by geographic region. Studies from the tropics had a broader taxonomic scope than studies from temperate locations. Exogenous mechanisms of passage failure, such as environmental, structural and behavioural factors, were studied in 90% of studies from North America but only 50% of studies from Europe, South America and Australia. Endogenous (i.e. physiological) mechanisms affecting passage success were not often assessed anywhere, though they were a powerful means of evaluating mechanisms of failure. Few studies monitored migration after fish had left a facility. To improve effectiveness monitoring of passage facilities, we suggest that both endogenous and exogenous mechanisms need to be studied in an integrated fashion to understand passage failure and to inform design or operational changes that could improve passage efficiency. In addition post-departure monitoring is required to more completely assess the fitness consequences of passage.

Deficient downstream passage through fish ladders: the case of Peixe Angical Dam, Tocantins River, Brazil

“…We regret that fishways in Brazil continue to be installed without thorough evaluations, using misleading information and based on nebulous goals (Pompeu et al, 2012). It is clear that fish conservation in impounded areas is a complex issue, demanding broader perspectives and sound ecological information Kraabøl et al, 2009;Roscoe & Hinch, 2010). As long as this broader context is neglected, the risk of installing ineffective fish passages remains.…”

Comparative Physiology and Relative Swimming Performance of Three Redhorse (Moxostomaspp.) Species: Associations with Fishway Passage Success

“…However, the application of physiology to fishway science has been limited (Roscoe and Hinch 2010). Recently, some physiological tools have been successful in identifying how fish populations are affected by dams (e.g., Hasler et al 2009) and fishway passage (Pon et al 2012).…”

“…Although fishways are a fairly common mitigation strategy to address river fragmentation, they are rarely subject to adequate biological study to determine whether they are successful (Bunt et al 2012). Early studies would deem a facility successful if fish were observed (e.g., captured in traps, documented via video, human observation) reaching the top of a fishway, but that approach does not document individuals that fail to do so (Roscoe and Hinch 2010). More recently, studies of fishway success (mostly using biotelemetry) have begun to focus on quantifying fishway attraction (the proportion of a fish population attracted to the fishway entrance) and passage efficiency (the proportion of fish attracted to the fishway that successfully ascend; Roscoe and Hinch 2010;Noonan et al 2012).…”

“…Early studies would deem a facility successful if fish were observed (e.g., captured in traps, documented via video, human observation) reaching the top of a fishway, but that approach does not document individuals that fail to do so (Roscoe and Hinch 2010). More recently, studies of fishway success (mostly using biotelemetry) have begun to focus on quantifying fishway attraction (the proportion of a fish population attracted to the fishway entrance) and passage efficiency (the proportion of fish attracted to the fishway that successfully ascend; Roscoe and Hinch 2010;Noonan et al 2012). Recent meta-analyses have revealed that attraction and passage success are highly variable among fishway types and species and in many cases are quite low (Bunt et al 2012;Noonan et al 2012).…”

Changes in particulate organic matters and plankton populations in nature-like fishways: role of nature-like fish ways in water treatment

“…Therefore, fish ladders, or a fish passes, have been developed to enable fish to pass such barriers (Roscoe and Hinch, 2010). They are generally built using hard engineering materials, such as concrete, metal, and wood, and occasionally using synthetic materials, such as fiberglass (Katopodis et al, 2001).…”