Journal
RIVER RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS
Volume 33, Issue 2, Pages 292-301Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/rra.3034
Keywords
migration; fish pass; RFID detection; stock; yellow eels; Meuse
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Funding
- 'Stock abundance estimation of wild yellow eels recruited by upstream migration in the Meuse River of Wallonia and implementation of restocking tests using glass eels and elvers' project - European Fisheries Fund [32-1102-002]
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Migration dynamics of incoming eels in Belgium via Lixhe in the Meuse River were investigated using two fish passes with different configurations-net traps and automatic detection stations-as tools to distinguish resident and migrating eels. From April to September 2013, 435 eels (P50 length, 403 mm; range, 196-836 mm) were caught (daily maxima catch, 90 eels per day), 90% between 13 June and 1 August (50 days) and P50 on 19 July. Eels migrated mostly at 19-26 degrees C (P50, 24.4 degrees C), river discharge 65-314m(3) s(-1) (P50, 84m(3) s(-1)), during the dark at 00: 00-05: 00 h and during both the waxing and waning phases of moonlight. From 396 eels tagged and released 0.3 km downstream of the Lixhe dam, 6.8% of them were recaptured, and 37.4% were detected. Migration flux was estimated at 7184 eels (0.863 t) using the mark-recapture method and decreased to 1156 eels (0.139 t) using automatic transponder detection. Most eels probably migrated through a sluice located downstream of Lixhe to reach the upper Meuse via the Albert Canal. Eels moved almost independently to the configuration of the fish passes and their location, but most eels displayed fidelity to the fish pass where they were captured. Migrant eels showed a wide range of size and life stages, with a higher proportion of eels (80%) belonging to the yellow eel stage. A lower proportion of eels (6%) had a larger size and presented an advanced continental silvering process corresponding to the migrating stage before their transatlantic migration. Copyright (C) 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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