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LARGEMOUTH BASS
LARGEMOUTH BASS

Largemouth Bass - As Tested

JUVENILE WHITE STURGEON
JUVENILE WHITE STURGEON

Juvenile White Sturgeons - As Tested

WHITE STURGEON
WHITE STURGEON

White Sturgeon - As Tested

ATET-TECH

ATET-Tech has had considerable experience evaluating different fish passage technologies which include the following:

  • Fine Mesh Screen (2-9.5 mm) and Barrier nets (1.25 cm)
  • Coarse Screens and Barriers (10-20 cm)
  • Louvers
  • Fish Pumps (Hidrostal)
  • Fish Return Systems
  • Behavioural Barriers (Lights for attraction, repulsion, sound deterrents)

ATET-Tech has also recently developed a Light Guidance Device (LGD) to be used alone or combined with other fish protection systems. The LGD has been extensively tested by Prof. Steven Cooke and his team from Carleton University. Other testing is being conducted by Dr. Nann Fangue and her students at the University of California (@Davis). We now have a database on the following species:

  • Largemouth Bass
  • White Sturgeon
  • Lamprey Eel
  • Chinook Salmon
  • Walleye
  • American Eel
  • Lake Sturgeon

Tests with large mouth bass and with white sturgeon were conducted in Ontario and British Columbia respectively. Technology development was conducted with the support of National Research Council of Canada-Industrial Research Assistance Program (NSERC-IRAP), Ontario Centre of Excellence (OCE) and the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).

Tests with largemouth bass were conducted at Queens University at their Biological Field Station. We also have conducted preliminary field studies on migrating Chinook Salmon at Corbett's Dam in Ontario.

ATET-Tech has had considerable experience evaluating different fish passage technologies which include the followiing:

 

Client support (financial or in-kind) for species testing has included:

  • Ontario Power Generation
  • Manitoba Hydro
  • CanNorth
  • LimnoTech
  • EcoMetrix

Looking for field test sites (rivers, lakes) and other species for testing!

Example publications follow:

  • Sullivan, B., Wilson, A., Gutowsky, L.G., Patrick, P.H., Sills, M., and Steven J. Cooke. 2016. The Behavioral Responses of a Warmwater Teleost to Different Spectra of Light-Emitting Diodes. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 36:1000-1004, 2016.

2) ABSTRACT

The behavioral response of a warm-water teleost to different spectra of light emitting diodes.

Abstract

Freshwater ecosystems are threatened by a wide range of anthropogenic infrastructure related to hydropower, irrigation, municipal withdrawals and industrial cooling. Technology can be used to mitigate the loss of fish associated with such infrastructure by exploiting the sensory physiology of a species through stimuli designed to manipulate their natural behavior (e.g., to attract or repel). Technologies used for behavioral guidance often incorporate light; however, previous studies investigating light devices have focused on mercury vapor bulbs and thus have been limited in their exploration of the broader light spectra. Innovations in light emitting diode (LED) technology provide opportunities for manipulating light spectra (i.e., color) as well as pulse frequency.

We tested the behavioral response of Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides under 16 different LED color and light-pulse frequency combinations as well as in a control in which no light was emitted. Red, orange, yellow and green were considered with four light-pulse frequencies (0, 120, 300 and 600 pulses/min). Using a large shallow arena, lateral fish movement in response to the light treatments was examined. Regardless of color or light-pulse frequency, fish were repelled by the light source. In contrast, when there was no light emitted, fish were evenly distributed throughout the arena. This work suggests that colored light accompanied with light-pulse frequencies produced by LEDs can induce an avoidance response in Largemouth Bass.

For the white sturgeon, the testing was conducted at the Vancouver Island University field facilities and a report was prepared for the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).

The complete publication is included - The Behavioral Responses - Sullivan et al 2016

The following report was submitted to DFO:

Behavioural Guidance of Migratory Fishes with Integrated Light and Physical Barriers (2016). Report Prepared for Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Chris K. Elvidege, Matthew I. Ford and Steven J. Cooke. Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory. Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

  • Under light and dark conditions, we examined both:
    • The color preferences of juvenile white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) using an LED-based light guidance device (LGD) capable of strobing at frequencies up to 40Hz.
    • The effectiveness of an integrated light-louver array on the use of a simulated downstream bypass channel
  • Juvenile white sturgeon showed the greatest attraction to green light strobing at 20Hz
  • Sturgeon demonstrated the least attraction to red light strobing at 1Hz
    • They also demonstrated less attraction to this setting than they did to the LGD when it was turned off
    • Red light at 1Hz seems to have a deterrent or repellant effect
  • Significantly more sturgeon passed through the louver when slats were absent, and more passed through with a slats were spaced at 4" and 8" than at 2"
  • The greatest number of bypasses were achieved with louver slats spacing of 4" or 8" paired with the LGD strobing green light at 20Hz
  • Red light may be useful in an upstream position to prevent juvenile sturgeon from approaching a louver array as they move downstream.