Fish Migration Facilities
VisAdvies helps water managers solve fish migration issues.
Weirs, dams, pumping stations and other water managing facilities.
These structures create a barrier for fish, preventing many fish species from migrating to or from suitable habitat to reproduce or forage. This applies not only to migratory fish such as eels and salmon that travel thousands of kilometres to their spawning grounds, but also to almost all fish species found in the polders. With the advent of integrated water management, government policy has paid more attention to the ecological value of water systems. Fish migration can therefore increasingly be found as a theme in policy plans and visions.
FACILITIES
Design of fish migration facilities
When these barriers cannot be removed, another solution is sought. One solution is to install a fish migration facility. A fish migration facility is a measure with the aim of returning fish migration to its former state so that fish can migrate freely. In many cases, a technical construction is devised so that fish can bypass the barrier. When designing such a technical construction, biological and hydraulic boundary conditions for the fish must be taken into account. VisAdvies designs, advises and supervises entire trajectories in the construction of fish passages.
Do you have any questions about the design of a fish passage or would you like to receive a quotation without engagement? Please contact one of our employees.
Evaluation of fish migration facility
After the construction of a fish migration facility, it is important to determine its performance. To make a well-founded statement about its operation, the efficiency needs to be determined. This is done by measuring fish migration in two directions.
No single monitoring technique is suitable to answer all issues. The design of a study depends on many different factors such as the type of fish migration facility, flow rate, flow velocity, target species etc. Investigating larger fish like pike or on the contrary the very small fish like elvers makes a big difference. Depending on the issue, the approach is determined. For example: for chain monitoring within a river basin, PIT telemetry can be used, while for the evaluation of a fish passage at a single location, a FishCounter can be used.
No single monitoring technique is suitable to answer all issues. The design of a study depends on many different factors such as the type of fish migration facility, flow rate, flow velocity, target species etc. Investigating larger fish like pike or on the contrary the very small fish like elvers makes a big difference. Depending on the issue, the approach is determined. For example: for chain monitoring within a river basin, PIT telemetry can be used, while for the evaluation of a fish passage at a single location, a FishCounter can be used.
FishCounter
The FishCounter is used to monitor the extent of fish migration and in the evaluation of fish passages, fish locks and other technical fish migration solutions. By monitoring fish passages both ways, the efficiency can be determined.
Montoring setup
The FishCounter is mounted in a box or underwater sill. When a fish swims by, the monitoring system detect the fish's swimming direction and give an indication of its size. When a fish swims by, a short video is also recorded, allowing the fish species to be determined. The equipment is connected to the mobile 4/5g network, allowing data to be sent directly to an online database. Malfunctions can be quickly detected and remedied ensuring data quality.
Would you like more information or a quotation? Then contact one of our staff members.
