Assessment of silver eel (Anguilla anguilla) route selection at a water-regulating weir using an acoustic camera
Eamonn S. Lenihan
A C , T. Kieran McCarthy B and Colin Lawton A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Animal Ecology and Conservation Unit, Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Martin Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway, H91 W5P7.
B Deceased. Formerly at Animal Ecology and Conservation Unit, Zoology, School of Natural Sciences, Martin Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway.
C Corresponding author. Email: eamonn.lenihan@nuigalway.ie
Marine and Freshwater Research 72(6) 754-765 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF20230
Submitted: 24 July 2020 Accepted: 4 November 2020 Published: 8 December 2020
Abstract
Riverine dams and weirs present silver eels with multiple migration routes during their downstream migrations. In relation to dams, understanding route selection is important for estimating silver eel escapement, especially where mortality rates vary among routes. On the lower River Shannon, Ireland, a water-regulating weir presents silver eels with two potential migration routes, the natural river channel and a headrace canal leading to a hydropower station. Route selection at the weir was investigated using a dual-frequency identification sonar (DIDSON) and replicated mark–recapture experiments. The proportion of eels migrating via the headrace canal was strongly related to the proportion of total flow diverted to that route (R2 = 0.827, P < 0.001), suggesting that eel route selection was passive. The active swimming speeds of eels (median = 0.16 m s−1), observed with the acoustic camera, did not greatly exceed water velocity and further suggested that eels were largely carried by the current. Knowledge of the relationship among flow, water velocity and eel route selection highlighted the potential to strategically alter hydropower-generating protocols to maximise silver eel passage via safer routes, and enhance survival.
Keywords: conservation, ecohydrology, ecology, fish, flow regulation, fisheries, freshwater.
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