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Biological effectiveness of an inexpensive nature‐like fishway for passage of warmwater fish in a small O ntario stream
Author(s) -
Steffensen S. Marina,
Thiem Jason D.,
Stamplecoskie Keith M.,
Binder Thomas R.,
Hatry Charles,
LangloisAnderson Naomi,
Cooke Steven J.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
ecology of freshwater fish
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1600-0633
pISSN - 0906-6691
DOI - 10.1111/eff.12032
Subject(s) - streams , catostomus , attraction , sucker , fish <actinopterygii> , fishery , environmental science , stream restoration , ecology , biology , habitat , computer science , zoology , computer network , linguistics , philosophy
Few studies have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of nature‐like fishways, particularly in low gradient warmwater streams with diverse fish communities. We evaluated a nature‐like fishway that was installed to facilitate upstream passage at a low head dam on I ndian C reek near S pencerville, O ntario, C anada. A passive integrated transponder ( PIT ) array was used to quantify attraction and passage efficiency for 391 PIT tagged warmwater fish, represented by seven species. Attraction efficiency for the three most common species, common shiner ( Luxilus cornutus ), creek chub ( Semotilus atromaculatus ) and white sucker ( Catostomus commersonii ), was 63.3%, 83.7% and 65.6%, respectively, and passage efficiencies were 5.1%, 38.4% and 25%, respectively. Creek chub were able to locate the fishway in less time than white sucker and common shiner; however, took longer to successfully pass. Manipulation of creek chub release locations was used to separate issues of attraction and passage and revealed that passage efficiency was highest (76.2%) for those released within the fishway and intermediate for those released at the entrance (42.1%). This multispecies fishway improved stream connectivity, but additional work is needed to fine tune its configuration. Similar projects that engage stakeholders in nature‐like fishway construction are a promising approach for the thousands of small dams that occur on low gradient streams around the globe, but those studies should incorporate a biological evaluation to ensure that attraction and passage efficiency are optimised.