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Mortality of Juvenile Salmonids Passing through Ossberger Crossflow Turbines at Small‐Scale Hydroelectric Sites
Author(s) -
Gloss Steven P.,
Wahl James R.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1983)112<194:mojspt>2.0.co;2
Subject(s) - salmo , juvenile , rainbow trout , fish mortality , fishery , biology , mortality rate , fish <actinopterygii> , zoology , environmental science , turbine , ecology , demography , physics , sociology , thermodynamics
Experiments were conducted on Ossberger Crossflow turbines to determine the amount of mortality that would be incurred by downstream‐migrating juvenile salmonids passing through these turbines. Species tested were Atlantic salmon Salmo salar, and rainbow trout and steelhead Salmo gairdneri. A highly significant (P < 0.01) relationship between fish size and are sine square root of mortality was found. Regression equations were calculated to predict expected mortality through 48 hours based upon size of fish. Mortality ranged from 15% for 85‐mm fish to over 70% for 280‐mm fish. No significant differences in mortality existed among similar size‐groups of the three salmonids tested. Neither output of the turbine nor its size (650 versus 850 kilowatts) affected the amount of mortality. Temporal distribution of mortality after fish passed through the turbine was not different among species nor was it affected by the absolute rate of mortality in a given trial. Over 75% of the mortality was considered instantaneous.