The present cooperation project on "Reduction of damage in migrating fish in hydropower stations" was funded by Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten, Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Landesentwicklung und Umweltfragen, Bayernwerk Wasserkraft AG, Landesfischereiverband Bayern e.V. and the Bezirk Unterfranken Basic data should be collected about the migratory behaviour of fish, the quantity and quality of injuries caused by turbines and the effect of abiotic and biotic factors on the results. In addition preliminary trials should be done in order to reduce the number of injured fish. The investigations were conducted under the scientific leadership of the Technische Universität München - Fachgebiet Fischbiologie. The project started in autumn 1996 and finished in autumn 1999. Fish were collected behind the turbins in nets during the main migration times of the present species with special emphasis on the eel. An advisory commission was installed. The work was done at the hydropower station Dettelbach at river Main. The results are summarised in the present report. Different types of turbines actually working in hydropower stations are described with special regard on their effect on passing fish. The present publications indicate, that the injuries depend on fish species, type of turbines, river dynamics, the season and further abiotic and biotic factors. In addition the results depend on the method of fish collection. So there are great differences in described observations. Methods for reduction of fish damage in hydropower stations described in literature, developed in research plants or in theoretical studies are presented in this report. The river Main and the special situation at the hydropower station in Dettelbach is described as well as the ichthyofauna. Fish were collected behind the hydropower station using nets with meshes of 10mm at the end. So all fish longer than 100mm were caught. To enable the investigation at high security level a swimming ponton was fixed as a working platform at the end of the nets. In addition drift nets were used for collection of fish larvae and small juveniles. The catch was analysed regarding the species, length, weight and classification of injuries. External and internal injuries were registered. Samples of caught and still living fish were kept in basins on the ponton for 24 to 96 hours. The mortality rate included dead fish in the nets, obviously severly injured fish in the nets and fish died in the basins with internal injuries. The results were correlated with different environmental factors, such as discharge, water temperature, pH-value or climatic factors. In the time from October 1996 to November 1999 the nets were fixed behind the turbines for 122 days. Long periods of high discharge prevented fish collection for several months because of security problems. Altogether 32407 fishes out of 28 species and two crayfish species have been registered. The drift nets caught 1365 fish larvae and juveniles in 1997 and 1998. The most frequent species caught were pike perch (20966 individuals), eel (3718 individuals), perch (2938 individuals) and roach (1687 individuals). The main migration periods were june/july for perch and pike perch, september to november for the eel and april/june and july for the roach. Eel, pike perch and roach were mainly caught in the darkness, perch more in the daylight. The migration activity was influenced by water temperature, discharge and the lunar phase. The parameters pH-value and oxygen content however revealed no statistical correlation. Air pressure, air temperature and rainfall was not or indirectly correlated with fish migration. Migration of each species lasted for a longer period and couldn't be predicted exactly. The whole mortality rates and the injury rates immediately after catching showed that minimal at Silurus glanis 6 percent and maximal 46 percent of mortality were seen. The injuries can be explained by mechanical contacts with parts of the turbines or by sudden variations of pressure and water flow while passing the turbines. The increase of mortality with increasing length of fish could be established high significantly. Trials were conducted to guide the fish through the opened weirs beside the power house. The results showed that the number of fish migrating through the weir instead the turbines depends on the discharge. Only a very high discharge running through the weir (more than a half of the whole discharge) prevents most of the fish from penetrating the turbines. The discharge through the turbines influenced the injury rates of passing fish. More discharge resulted in decreasing mortality rates in eel, roach and bream but to increasing rates in pike perch, perch and brown trout. So mortality rate could be reduced by adapting the turbine conditions on the actually migrating species. All fish were measured for length and diameter. So it was possible to calculate the percentage of fish penetrating the turbines depending on the rake or screen system. The present investigations are a fundamental basis for further discussions about the mortality of fish in the described Kaplan turbines. Preliminary results and theoretical calculations indicate possibilities for reduction of injuries and mortality in hydro power stations.
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The present cooperation project on "Reduction of damage in migrating fish in hydropower stations" was funded by Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Forsten, Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Landesentwicklung und Umweltfragen, Bayernwerk Wasserkraft AG, Landesfischereiverband Bayern e.V. and the Bezirk Unterfranken Basic data should be collected about the migratory behaviour of fish, the quantity and quality of injuries caused by turbines and the effect of abiotic and...
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