The efficiency of selective tidal stream transport in glass eel entering the Gironde (France)

Traditional estimation of migration speed is based on telemetry or marking of individual fish. Only a few numbers of fishes (or batches) are followed, often over short periods of time. We propose a method based on capture data from the professional fishery. It is applied to glass eel (Anguilla anguilla) in the Gironde basin (France). Migration speed is estimated using 2 methods: a rough method based on the analysis of seasonal abundance peaks for two metiers and a more precise method of cross-correlation, which compares speeds between several fishing areas. The methods are coherent and lead to mean migration speed ranging from 3 to 4 km/day. We define an index of efficiency of migration using selective tidal stream transport (STST efficiency index) as the ratio of the observed migration speed to the potential speed (flood tide current speed and swimming speed). For the glass eel in the Gironde basin this index ranges between 0.15 and 0.19. The glass eel behavior, which can explain this low value, is reviewed. Our STST efficiency index can be successfully applied for many fish or crustaceans using selective tidal stream transport. It can also be used for one species to compare results obtained on different basins.