Mortality of European glass eel (Anguilla anguillajuveniles) at a nuclear power plant

Abstract

Approximately 44 000–310 000 juveniles of the critically endangered European eel (glass eel) pass through filters annually at the cooling water intake of the Ringhals nuclear power plant in Sweden. This article attempts to quantify the mortality of glass eel during this process. Glass eel was captured before and after passage and stored in aquariums. Mortality rates were recorded and compared. Results showed that 13.4% of the glass eel passing the Ringhals plant died as a result of mechanical stress, temperature changes, or pressure changes during the passage. However, due to difficulties and shortcomings in field sampling and experimental design, these results should be treated with care and additional studies are needed.