Behavioural guidance of yellow-stage American eel Anguilla rostrata with a light- emitting diode device

Ck Elvidge,Sj Cooke,Tc Pratt,Mi Ford,M Sills,Ke Smokorowski,Ph Patrick

doi:10.3354/esr00884

Abstract

ESR Endangered Species Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials ESR 35:159-168 (2018) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00884 Behavioural guidance of yellow-stage American eel Anguilla rostrata with a light-emitting diode device Chris K. Elvidge1,4,*, Matthew I. Ford1, Thomas C. Pratt2, Karen E. Smokorowski2, Michael Sills3, Paul H. Patrick3, Steven J. Cooke1 1Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada 2Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Sault Ste Marie, ON, P6A 2E5, Canada 3ATET-TECH Incorporated, Thornhill, ON, L4J 6X8, Canada 4Present address: Department of Biology, University of Eastern Finland, PO Box 111, Joensuu, 81010 Finland *Corresponding author: chris.k.elvidge@gmail.com ABSTRACT: Providing safe downstream passage for outmigrating freshwater eels around hydroelectric facilities, especially on large river systems, is a daunting challenge. With engineering limitations on the installation of physical barriers, behavioural guidance research is needed to steer outmigrating eels towards safe passage or collection facilities. We exposed late, yellow-stage American eel Anguilla rostrata to different colours and strobing frequency of light-emitting diode (LED) light, or to unlit control trials, in y-maze dichotomous choice tests. Eels demonstrated initial attraction towards the y-maze structure and entered the dark (control) side more often and for a longer duration compared to the illuminated side. Blue light strobing at 30 Hz elicited the greatest initial avoidance response and eels spent less time on the light side with this treatment, and we recommend that this setting be tested further under field conditions. Although the initial avoidance of all light settings attenuated over the 5 min observations, this attenuation may be less relevant when eels are engaged in active migration, and thus may provide a viable means of guiding eels to safe outmigration paths. KEY WORDS: Hydropower · Turbines · Outmigration · Light guidance device · Strobing lights · LED Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Elvidge CK, Ford MI, Pratt TC, Smokorowski KE, Sills M, Patrick PH, Cooke SJ (2018) Behavioural guidance of yellow-stage American eel Anguilla rostrata with a light-emitting diode device. Endang Species Res 35:159-168. https://doi.org/10.3354/esr00884 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESR Vol. 35. Online publication date: March 15, 2018 Print ISSN: 1863-5407; Online ISSN: 1613-4796 Copyright © 2018 Inter-Research.

Highlights

IntroductionAtlantic eels (including both the European eel Anguilla anguilla and the American eel A. rostrata) are iconic, facultatively catadromous fish species, historically targeted by commercial, recreational, and indigenous fishers (Cairns et al 2014, Dekker & Beaulaton 2016)
Atlantic eels are iconic, facultatively catadromous fish species, historically targeted by commercial, recreational, and indigenous fishers (Cairns et al 2014, Dekker & Beaulaton 2016)
Industries and utilities deal with constraints placed on them by regulators given the risk of migratory fishes being trapped or killed by impingement or entrainment

Summary

Introduction

Atlantic eels (including both the European eel Anguilla anguilla and the American eel A. rostrata) are iconic, facultatively catadromous fish species, historically targeted by commercial, recreational, and indigenous fishers (Cairns et al 2014, Dekker & Beaulaton 2016). As a consequence of severe population declines, the Interna- To reach their spawning grounds in the Sargasso Sea from inland waterbodies, Atlantic eels often have to pass through hydroelectric power-generating. On the St. Lawrence River, the outflow of the Laurentian Great Lakes, American eel need to pass through turbines at 2 large hydroelectric facilities, resulting in a cumulative annual turbine mortality of 39.5% (Verreault & Dumont 2003). Significant challenges remain with guiding and safely passing outmigrating eels on large rivers, including the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, where discharges and debris loading are high, as solutions that work at smaller plants for excluding eels from turbine intakes (e.g. screens or racks) are considered infeasible from an engineering perspective (Greig et al 2006)

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