Forebay use and entrainment rates of resident adult fish in a large hydropower reservoir

Abstract

AB Aquatic Biology Contact the journal Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections AB 19:253-263 (2013) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00536 Forebay use and entrainment rates of resident adult fish in a large hydropower reservoir Eduardo G. Martins1,*, Lee F. G. Gutowsky1, Philip M. Harrison2, David A. Patterson3, Michael Power2, David Z. Zhu4, Alf Leake5, Steven J. Cooke1 1Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Ottawa-Carleton Institute for Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Dr., Ottawa, Ontario K1S 5B6, Canada 2Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave., Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1, Canada 3Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Cooperative Resource Management Institute, School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6, Canada 4Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2W2, Canada 5Environmental and Social Issues, BC Hydro, 6911 Southpoint Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia V3N 4X8, Canada *Email: egmartins@gmail.com ABSTRACT: Fish entrainment occurs when individuals are displaced from reservoirs to downstream waters by way of water diversion through turbines or other water release structures. While much effort has been put into quantifying and reducing entrainment of downstream migrating salmonids, considerably less research has focused on fish that are residents in reservoirs and in many cases are the top piscivores in these systems. We used 2 yr of acoustic telemetry data on adult bull trout Salvelinus confluentus and burbot Lota lota tagged in Kinbasket Reservoir (British Columbia, Canada) to investigate entrainment vulnerability by measuring forebay use and entrainment rates. Our results revealed that (1) adult bull trout and burbot made little use of the forebay; (2) bull trout used the forebay more and had higher rates of entrainment than burbot; and (3) both forebay use and entrainment varied among seasons. Bull trout used the forebay more intensively and were mostly entrained in the fall and winter. Limited forebay use and entrainment data for burbot suggest that they are more vulnerable to entrainment in the fall. These findings should be generally applicable for adult bull trout and burbot in reservoirs that maximize operations in the fall and winter, and could help managers and industry to make informed decisions on how to mitigate and compensate for entrainment. KEY WORDS: Entrainment · Hydropower · Bull trout · Burbot · Forebay · Turbines · Acoustic telemetry · Detection efficiency Full text in pdf format Supplementary material PreviousNextCite this article as: Martins EG, Gutowsky LFG, Harrison PM, Patterson DA and others (2013) Forebay use and entrainment rates of resident adult fish in a large hydropower reservoir. Aquat Biol 19:253-263. https://doi.org/10.3354/ab00536 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in AB Vol. 19, No. 3. Online publication date: October 24, 2013 Print ISSN: 1864-7782; Online ISSN: 1864-7790 Copyright © 2013 Inter-Research.