Behaviour of adult Pacific lamprey in near-field flow and fishway design experiments

Abstract

An experimental fishway was used to examine adult Pacific lamprey, Lampetra tridentata (Gairdner), behaviour in a series of attraction and passage-performance tests. Among all experiments, lamprey oriented to the fishway floor and walls and were attracted to both ambient and concentrated flow. When confronted with highvelocity areas (vertical-slot and submerged-orifice weirs), many lamprey failed to pass upstream. However, lamprey were able to find and take advantage of low-velocity refuges when they were provided. Lamprey climbed shallow-and steep-angled ramps when attraction cues were sufficient and other passage routes were restricted. The combined results demonstrated the passage challenges that fishways designed and operated for salmonids present to non-salmonid species. They also highlight the importance of evaluating trade-offs between fishway attraction and passage efficiency. The experiments were integrated with tagging studies and development of lamprey-specific passage structures, a research combination that provided an effective template for fishway performance evaluations.K E Y W O R D S : burst swimming, Columbia River, fishway performance, migration barrier, rheotaxis, velocity refuge.

Extreme inefficiency of two conventional, technical fishways used by European river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis)

“…Furthermore, whilst peaks in lamprey visitation to both fishways on a given day were highest during high flow events, outside of release dates, markedly fewer lamprey visited the pool and weir fishway on a given day than the Denil fishway. These observations can be attributed to the pool and weir's low fishway discharge and the suboptimal, perpendicular orientation of the attraction flow in relation to the barrier; these factors have proved to be problematic for other fish species attempting to locate fishway entrances (Aarestrup et al, 2003;Bunt, 2001;Gowans et al, 1999;Keefer et al, 2011;Laine et al, 1998;Larinier et al, 2005). September to March, was never exceeded.…”

“…Only in recent years have these designs been evaluated, on site or in laboratories, for less economically important or 4 less well-understood taxa (e.g. Cypriniformes, Anguilliformes, Perciformes, Characiformes) (Bunt et al, 1999;Keefer et al, 2011;Laine et al, 1998;Lucas et al, 1999Lucas et al, , 2000Makrakis et al, 2011;Kemp, 2011a, 2011b;Thiem et al, 2012;White et al, 2011). Improved understanding of the behaviour and passage ability of a wider range of species is needed, through laboratory and field studies, if we are to move further towards effective multi-species fish passage provision.…”

“…Most research concerning lamprey passage has originated in North America: firstly, in detailing the efficacy of large fishway facilities at hydropower dams in the lower Columbia River for threatened Pacific lamprey Lampetra tridentata (Jackson and Moser, 2012;Johnson et al, 2012;Keefer et al, 2009Keefer et al, , 2010Keefer et al, , 2011Moser et al, 2002aMoser et al, , 2002bMoser et al, , 2011, and secondly in investigating the capabilities of the sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus, an invasive species in the Great Lakes, to negotiate barriers, in order to develop preventative measures to block their upstream migration (Hanson, 1978;Hunn and Youngs, 1980;Katopodis et al, 1994). However, differences in the size, swimming capabilities and behaviour of lamprey species and migratory forms warrant care in extrapolation between species.…”

Lampreys: Biology, Conservation and Control

“…In similar sets of experiments, Keefer et al (2011) found that adult lamprey were able to find and use relatively low-velocity routes when given a choice between high (2.9-3 m/s) and lower velocity (0.1-1.2 m/s) treatments. used both an experimental flume and field observations to document adult Pacific lamprey behaviors in fishways at a large hydropower dam.…”

“…Unlike teleost fishes (particularly salmonids), lampreys are relatively poor swimmers and use their oral disc to attach and rest in high velocity situations (e.g., Quintella et al 2004;, although climbing abilities differ among species (Moser et al 2011). Improvements to passage structures are now being implemented in some areas to improve lamprey passage efficiency (e.g., Keefer et al 2011;Moser et al 2011;see Chap. 5).…”