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Extent of injury and mortality arising from entrainment of fish through a Very Low Head hydropower turbine in central Ontario, Canada

  • PERSPECTIVES ON SUSTAINABLE HYDRO-POWER
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Abstract

Because of growing interest in deploying newer very low head (VLH) turbine technology to generate electricity in rivers, there is a need to assess how fish fare in interactions with VLH turbines. We assessed injury and mortality rates from experimental VLH turbine entrainment of fish species local to the study site at Wasdell Falls on the Severn River, Ontario, which is one of the first such VLH installations in North America. Using balloon tags to recapture fish and before/after entrainment assessments, we found minimal injury and mortality differences between control (no entrainment) and treatment (entrainment) groups. One adult northern pike (Esox lucius Linnaeus, 1758; 1.16% of total entrained fish) was killed by turbine strike. Abrasion-related injuries (i.e., scale loss, torn fins) were the most common form of injury in both control and treatment fish, which was likely attributed to handling and not turbine passage per se. Telemetry monitoring of a subset of fish revealed that post-passage mortality was low. These results suggest that VLH turbine entrainment has negligible effects on the fish species studied here, and thus, VLH turbines may be suitable for increasing generating capacity at low head dam sites with minimal risk to fish.

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Acknowledgements

All research was conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the Canadian Council for Animal Care. Funding was provided by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (Strategic Program for Ecosystem-Based Research and Advice and the Fish and Fish Habitat Protection branch) and Carleton University. We thank Enbridge Power Operations for site access, turbine operation adjustment as required, and provision of assistance from their site operator Glenn Hepinstall, who was extremely helpful throughout this project. We also thank Fisheries and Oceans Canada assistance from Stephanie Best, Anne-Sophie Fabris, Marla Thibodeau, and Jenna Webb, as well as assistance from Carleton University by Dirk Algera, Jacqueline Chapman, Benjamin Hlina, Elodie Lédée, Amanda Jeanson, Sarah Walton, and Graham Raby.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Erik I. Tuononen, Steven J. Cooke & Karen E. Smokorowski

  2. Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 1219 Queen Street East, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, P6A 2E5, Canada

    Evan R. Timusk & Karen E. Smokorowski

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  1. Erik I. Tuononen
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  2. Steven J. Cooke
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Correspondence to Erik I. Tuononen.

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Tuononen, E.I., Cooke, S.J., Timusk, E.R. et al. Extent of injury and mortality arising from entrainment of fish through a Very Low Head hydropower turbine in central Ontario, Canada. Hydrobiologia 849, 407–420 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-020-04376-x

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