Project
Collaborative Research: Volitional Swimming Performance of Native Freshwater Fish
Access to habitat is a fundamental metric of habitat quality. Human activities have disrupted access to habitat for many fish species by creating riverine barriers, whether it is from hydropower generation, road construction or even preventing invasive species from accessing upstream river reaches. Their effect may be mitigated by providing fish passage, but knowledge of the species’ willingness and ability to swim under various environmental conditions are key elements for the design of effective fishways. Reliable data on fish swimming performance are however scarce (Benoit et al., 2023). Previous efforts have mainly focused on diadromous species (Castro-Santos, 2005), or mature individuals of freshwater species with economic importance such as salmonids (Weaver et al. 1963, Castro-Santos et al. 2013). Swimming ability remains unknown for many species, especially freshwater small-bodied species or juvenile stages. Although they undertake less extensive migrations than diadromous ones, freshwater species also move between riverine habitats and are susceptible to being impeded by barriers. To fill some of these knowledge gaps, this project investigates the behavior (motivation), and the volitional swimming ability/performance of a suite of native freshwater species, most of them of small size, to produce reliable design criteria for fish passage at barriers. We will also investigate how maximum sustained ability derived from confined experiments relates to the willingness to swim and the volitional sprinting endurance in a more nature-like environment characterized by fast and turbulent flows.