Passage of European eel and river lamprey at a model weir provisioned with studded tiles

Vowles, Andrew S.; Don, Andy; Karageorgopoulos, Perikles; Kemp, Paul S.

doi:10.1080/24705357.2017.1310001

Cited by 24 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Incorporating unsteadiness and turbulence should increase the tortuosity of passage routes and increase the time to ascend. Fifth, while it is possible that elvers would exhibit crawling behaviour or rest within the pass, neither of which are captured by the models, Vowles et al [13,36] did not observe either of these behaviours in their experiments, and instead elvers attempted to ascend the eel tiles as quickly as possible using anguilliform swimming. Conversely, elvers and small eels less than 0.1 m long have been observed to climb sloping or even vertical wetted surfaces, especially if they are covered in moss or algae, at temperatures greater than 12−14.5°C [9,17,[44][45][46].…”

Section: Model Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Individual-based model of juvenile eel movement parametrized with computational fluid dynamics-derived flow fields informs improved fish pass design

et al. 2020

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European eel populations have declined markedly in recent decades, caused in part by in-stream barriers, such as weirs and pumping stations, which disrupt the upstream migration of juvenile eels, or elvers, into rivers. Eel passes, narrow sloping channels lined with substrata that enable elvers to ascend, are one way to mitigate against these barriers. Currently, studded eel tiles are a popular substrate. This study is the first to evaluate the flow fields within studded eel tiles and to model the swimming performance of elvers using cellular automata (CA) and individual- (or agent-) based models. Velocities and flow depths predicted by a computational fluid dynamics model of studded eel tiles are first validated against published values for a single installation angle–discharge combination. The validated model is then used to compute three-dimensional flow fields for eel passes at five different installation angles and three inflow discharges. CA and individual-based models are employed to assess upstream passage efficiency for a range of elver sizes. The individual-based model approximates measured passage efficiencies better than the CA model. Passage efficiency is greatest for shallow slopes, low discharges and large elvers. Results are synthesized into an easy-to-understand graphic to help practitioners improve eel pass designs.

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Section: Model Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Individual-based model of juvenile eel movement parametrized with computational fluid dynamics-derived flow fields informs improved fish pass design

et al. 2020

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“…Since a previous study showed no sex or size-biased entry of tagged sea lamprey into funnel traps [11], we conclude that the studded-tile trap probably causes greater gear selectivity than the funnel tap. Our results may also be relevant to adult lamprey fishway structures, such as those for the Pacific lamprey (Entosphenus tridentatus) on the west coast of North America [14,15], as well as the studded-tile substrates used to aid river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis) passage in some European rivers [16][17][18].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trap Happiness and Catch Bias in Sea Lamprey Traps

Reinhardt

Hrodey

2019

Fishes

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Sampling fish by trapping can lead to biased conclusions about a population. We used catch data to assess differences between two types of traps for adult sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus), submerged-funnel traps and studded-tile traps, which are angled ramps with trickle flow leading out of the water. The studded-tile trap at one river caught about 50% more females than the funnel trap. It caught males that had a smaller body size and females with a lower gonado-somatic index (GSI). The likelihood of catching lamprey in the studded-tile trap increased after they had been caught once. This was not the case for the funnel traps, which are used for mark–recapture-based population assessment of invasive sea lamprey in the Great Lakes. The apparent trap response caused by studded-tile traps may have been caused by a behavioral bias, i.e., the traps consistently attracting a subset of the population. Use of the studded-tile trap for population assessment should only be considered after more is known about its recapture bias. The differences between lamprey caught in the two trap types suggests that a variety of trapping methods needs to be employed in order to get a representative sample from a fish population.

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“…Different plastic substrata with studs have recently been used in eel and elver passage solutions (Solomon & Beach, ; Vowles et al ., , ; Jellyman et al ., ). The studded substratum used in our study (designed for eel passes; EF‐16, Elghagen Fiskevård, Åstorp, Sweden) consisted of dark coloured plastic tiles with rows of circular studs (height = 14 mm; max.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At present, the alarmingly low densities of upstream‐migrating juvenile eels suggest that immediate actions are required to increase the proportion of eels passing upstream migration barriers. During recent years, several new upstream passage solutions have been developed, but research assessing the performance of these solutions has until recently been completely lacking, and only a handful of studies address this issue (Kerr, Karageorgopoulos & Kemp, ; Vowles et al ., , ; Jellyman, Bauld & Crow, ). In particular, further studies evaluating the effects of upstream passage solution design and placement are needed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The features of the ramps, such as climbing substratum and slope, are critical, as the efficiency in aiding the ascent of juvenile eels (both in terms of passage success rate and climbing velocity) may directly affect the performance of the passage solution (Jellyman et al ., ; Anwar, ). Evaluations of single substrata have shown that, for example studded plastic tiles and bristle passes improve passage success at Crump weirs (Kerr et al ., ; Vowles et al ., , ), but few studies have directly compared the performance of different climbing substrata (Jellyman et al ., ). A recent study by Tamario et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Climbing the ladder: an evaluation of three different anguillid eel climbing substrata and placement of upstream passage solutions at migration barriers

Watz

Nilsson

Degerman

et al. 2019

Animal Conservation

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Conservation programmes for endangered, long-lived and migratory species often have to target multiple life stages. The bottlenecks associated with the survival of juvenile anguillid eels migrating into inland waters, the survival and growth of the freshwater life stage, as well as the recruitment and survival of silver eels, migrating back to the ocean to spawn, must be resolved. In this study, we focus on the efficiency of passage solutions for upstream-migrating juveniles. Such solutions can consist of inclined ramps lined with wetted climbing substrata. We evaluated different commonly used substrata in a controlled experiment, recorded eel behaviour at the entrance of the ramp with infrared videography and validated the experimental results at a hydropower dam, where we also investigated the effects of ramp placement on performance. In the experiment on eel substratum selection, 40% of the eels passed in lanes with studded substratum, whereas only 21 and 5% passed using open weave and bristle substrata respectively. Video analysis revealed that the studded substratum attracted more approaches and initiated climbs than the other substrata, but once a climb had been initiated, passage success rates did not differ between substrata. Eels using the studded substratum climbed 26% faster than those using the bristle substratum and almost four times as fast as those climbing in the open weave. The superior performance of the studded substratum was supported by data from the field validation. Moreover, ramps positioned by the bank with low water velocities caught the most eels, but proximity to the dam had no effect on performance. To strengthen the European eel population, more juveniles need to reach their freshwater feeding grounds. A critical step to achieve this increase is to equip upstream passage solutions with suitable substrata and to optimize ramp placement at migration obstacles.

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Passage of European eel and river lamprey at a model weir provisioned with studded tiles

Cited by 24 publications

References 30 publications

Individual-based model of juvenile eel movement parametrized with computational fluid dynamics-derived flow fields informs improved fish pass design

Individual-based model of juvenile eel movement parametrized with computational fluid dynamics-derived flow fields informs improved fish pass design

Trap Happiness and Catch Bias in Sea Lamprey Traps

Climbing the ladder: an evaluation of three different anguillid eel climbing substrata and placement of upstream passage solutions at migration barriers

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