Variations in migration behaviour and mortality of Atlantic salmon smolts in four different hydroelectric facilities

Karppinen, Petri; Hynninen, Mikko; Vehanen, Teppo; Vähä, Juha‐Pekka

doi:10.1111/fme.12486

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…The choice of the smolts between these two migration routes might have depended on the discharge repartition. As suggested in the literature, the downstream-migrating smolts usually tend to follow the main flow [7,11,22,27,30,42], and therefore migrate through the main river. The nature-like fishway was associated with 22-28% of the total river discharge, which corresponds to a mean discharge of approximately 4.0 m 3 s −1 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Assessment of the Attractiveness and Passage Efficiency of Different Fish Passage Solutions at a Hydropower Plant by Combining Fine Scale 2D-Telemetry and Hydraulic Numerical Modelling

et al. 2023

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Mitigation measures for downstream-migrating Atlantic salmon smolts (Salmo salar L.) are commonly insufficiently attractive to enable safe entrance and passage with no delay. Combining 2D telemetry with hydrodynamic modelling has been shown to be a good tool to better understand the influence of hydrodynamic factors on the migration route choice of fishes. In this study, we investigated the smolt downstream migration at a hydropower plant in Belgium that offers five migration routes, including two Archimedes screws and one nature-like fishway. At the hydropower plant, the Archimedes screws were the most used migration routes, due to higher discharges and more important water depths at their entrance. The weir and the canal intake were less used by the smolts. The nature-like fishway turned out to be less used, with 23% of the smolts. Its associated crossing time was significantly longer, probably due to shallow water depths and high flow velocities. The nature-like fishway had the potential to become a good migration route for salmon smolts after improvements to increase attractiveness and passage efficiency. Moreover, the Archimedes screws were not detrimental to the smolts and did not cause any significant delays to the crossing time.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Assessment of the Attractiveness and Passage Efficiency of Different Fish Passage Solutions at a Hydropower Plant by Combining Fine Scale 2D-Telemetry and Hydraulic Numerical Modelling

et al. 2023

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“…Among the 1091 studies, some studies with data initially met our exclusion criteria but were excluded at the end. These studies included the following: (1) studies that used any form of artificial intervention, such as an enclosure (e.g., Thiem et al, 2013, 2016), attraction flows (e.g., Burnett et al, 2014; Dodd et al, 2018; Yoon et al, 2016), and strobe lights (e.g., Croze et al, 1999), to affect the approaching or ascending of fishes; (2) those that only considered downstream migration of fishes (e.g., Karppinen et al, 2021; Ovidio et al, 2021; Sanz‐Ronda et al, 2021); (3) those based on laboratories or other unnatural conditions (e.g., Baek et al, 2022; Fox et al, 2016); (4) those that reported the number of fish detected with monitoring equipment failure (e.g., Stuart et al, 2008); (5) those that did not track individual fish (e.g., Bunt, 2001; Hawkins et al, 2018; Hu et al, 2020); and (6) those that used the same monitoring data (e.g., Bao et al, 2019; Chen et al, 2018; Franklin, 2009; Franklin et al, 2012; Roscoe et al, 2010, 2011; Roscoe & Hinch, 2008).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attraction and passage efficiency for salmonids and non‐salmonids based on fishway: A meta‐analysis approach

Sun,

Tan,

Zhang

et al. 2023

River Research & Apps

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Globally, fishways perform better when the target fish species are salmonids rather than non‐salmonids. In the past few decades, engineers and dam managers have attempted to identify an ideal fishway type that can fit all migratory orders. To determine a general rule for selecting fishway types, we classified all fish orders into two groups (salmonids and non‐salmonids) and analyzed the effect of different fishway types (i.e., nature‐like [NL], vertical slot [VS], pool and weir [PW], and denil [DL]) on upstream migration for both groups by conducting a meta‐analysis based on data from 64 studies of 76 fishways. The fishway performance was presented in terms of attraction efficiency (AE) and passage efficiency (PE). The results of a random‐effects model, including 257 and 299 estimates of AE and PE, respectively, showed fishway types only had a significant effect on AE for non‐salmonids. Technical fishways had a higher AE than NL fishways for salmonids, but were not applicable to non‐salmonids. The passage results of four fishway types indicated that the PW fishways exhibited the best performance for salmonids, but the poorest performance for non‐salmonids. Only DL fishways had a PE of over 50% for non‐salmonids, whereas all fishway types had that of over 60% for salmonids. Variations in the slope and length of VS fishways could significantly affect PE for both groups, however, the phenomenon for salmonids disappeared when merging all fishway types. Elevation changes had a significant effect only on the condition that salmonids passed through VS fishways. The results of this study play an important role in designing appropriate fishway types for different downstream fish fauna and can be better generalized by complementing quantitative evaluation studies of various fishways as much as possible.

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“…When ready, smolts lose their willingness to maintain station in a flow and start migrating downstream with the aid of the current. The speed of the current influences the downstream travel time, but smolts actively swim, typically following the mainstream in the surface water layer [7,120,139]. Smolts predominantly migrate at night, but this may change later in the migration period [2,5,140].…”

Section: Smolt Migrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Impact of Climate Change on Salmonid Smolt Ecology

Vehanen

Sutela

Huusko

2023

Fishes

Self Cite

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The migratory life history of anadromous salmonids requires successful migration between nursery, feeding, and spawning habitats. Smolting is the major transformation anadromous salmonids undergo before migration to feeding areas. It prepares juvenile fish for downstream migration and their entry to seawater. We reviewed the effects of climate change on smolt ecology from the growth of juveniles in fresh water to early post-smolts in the sea to identify the potential effects of climate change on migratory salmonid populations during this period in their life history. The focus was especially on Atlantic salmon. The shift in suitable thermal conditions caused by climate change results in Atlantic salmon expanding their range northward, while at the southern edge of their distribution, populations struggle with high temperatures and occasional droughts. Climatic conditions, particularly warmer temperatures, affect growth during the freshwater river phase. Better growth in northern latitudes leads to earlier smolting. Thermal refuges, the areas of cooler water in the river, are important for salmonids impacted by climate change. Restoring and maintaining connectivity and a suitably diverse mosaic habitat in rivers are important for survival and growth throughout the range. The start of the smolt migration has shifted earlier as a response to rising water temperatures, which has led to concerns about a mismatch with optimal conditions for post-smolts in the sea, decreasing their survival. A wide smolt window allowing all migrating phenotypes from early to late migrants’ safe access to the sea is important in changing environmental conditions. This is also true for regulated rivers, where flow regulation practices cause selection pressures on migrating salmonid phenotypes. The freshwater life history also affects marine survival, and better collaboration across life stages and habitats is necessary among researchers and managers to boost smolt production in rivers. Proactive measures are recommended against population declines, including sustainable land use in the catchment, maintaining a diverse mosaic of habitats for salmonids, restoring flow and connectivity, and conserving key habitats.

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Variations in migration behaviour and mortality of Atlantic salmon smolts in four different hydroelectric facilities

Cited by 10 publications

References 64 publications

Assessment of the Attractiveness and Passage Efficiency of Different Fish Passage Solutions at a Hydropower Plant by Combining Fine Scale 2D-Telemetry and Hydraulic Numerical Modelling

Assessment of the Attractiveness and Passage Efficiency of Different Fish Passage Solutions at a Hydropower Plant by Combining Fine Scale 2D-Telemetry and Hydraulic Numerical Modelling

Attraction and passage efficiency for salmonids and non‐salmonids based on fishway: A meta‐analysis approach

Potential Impact of Climate Change on Salmonid Smolt Ecology

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