We have great news. Danish National Institute of Aquatic Resources uses drones for survey

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1 We have great news From drone surveys to social attitudes towards dams, new projects in the Allier river and much more. You can read it all in this new AMBER newsletter. Danish National Institute of Aquatic Resources uses drones for survey The National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU Aqua), Denmark, has been conducting drone surveys to evaluate the effects of barrier removal on habitat changes, fish diversity and density. Lowland barriers, such as those present in Denmark, are often associated with fish farms, which use them to take water in (as depicted in 1 of the pictures). In the event of weir removal, the fish farms will shut down (also depicted), giving wild fish and especially salmonids ease of passage. DTU Aqua s work in the AMBER project is to evaluate the effects of barrier removal, and its efficiency in reinstating river connectivity and restoring natural habitats for fish populations. For more info, please contact Kim Birnie-Gauvin Fish farm from up high

2 Over 2500 potential barriers have been identified by Inland Fisheries Ireland Inland Fisheries Ireland have been compiling information on barriers in rivers, in particular their location and type, which will feed into the Atlas of European Barriers. Within their catchment specific study (Barrow catchment; 3,067 km2), over 2500 potential barriers have been identified remotely, sites are being visited on weekly basis and to date over 233 barriers have been identified. At their demonstration sites on the Munster Blackwater, Inland Fisheries Ireland is undertaking a programme of acoustic tracking of sea lamprey. The study intends to look at the response of the sea lamprey when they encounter barriers or blockages to their upstream spawning migration. James Barry, fisheries biologist working with the R&D unit in Inland Fisheries Ireland, is also investigating the fish biodiversity in the impounded deep water areas upstream of major weirs. In particular the organization is undertaking an eel specific survey in the impounded sections at our demonstration sites, this study will use PIT tags to estimate eel population size and to investigate changes in the eel population post weir modification.

3 The New Poutès EDF launches project to improve the migration of salmon downstream the Allier River On the 1st of March 2017, at the Poutès dam on the Allier river gorge in France, EDF launched a novel project in consultation with water stakeholders. Its objective is to improve the migration of wild salmon downstream i.e. their journey down the Allier River to the sea. Prior to work on the New Poutès project, which is planned to start in a few months, the height of the reservoir water level has been lowered by 6 meters at the dam. This water level drop has reduced the reservoir length from the usual 3.5 km to 1 km. Adjustment of the water flow rate through the turbine makes it possible to reconcile the production of hydroelectricity, which is the primary source of renewable energy in the region, with the optimisation of downstream migration of Allier Salmon. In partnership with the Wild Salmon Conservatory, under the AMBER European program, young salmon, known as smolts, are caught upstream of the reservoir of Poutès by a drum net trap placed in the river. The young salmon trapped are equipped with an acoustic transmitter, and then released. Their behaviour is studied and the time to traverse the dam is measured by receivers arranged upstream and downstream of the dam. An escape route, a special crossing device, has been carefully positioned on the opening of the left bank valve to allow a minimum of 70 cm depth of water to flow out. This allows the fish to traverse the dam structure without damage. Once the downstream life-cycle of the fish is complete, the valve will be closed and the water height will be returned to its usual operating level. The fish movement measured by the acoustic transmitters can then be analyzed.

4 A survey on social attitudes towards dams and reservoirs The University of Oviedo has launched a survey on the social attitudes of European citizens towards dams and reservoirs. Started on March 2017, this survey will run until March 2018 with the goal to collect data from population sectors directly influenced by the presence or new construction of dams and reservoirs, as well as from the population who lives far from dammed areas. This macro survey will provide information on the degree of social perception of dams and reservoirs in European countries; a very important contribution to discuss with rigor and arguments about adaptive management of water masses and the connectivity of rivers. Consult the full article to know more about the survey here: Universidad de Oviedo - survey on social attitudes towards dams and reservoirs Click here to consult the survey: Reservoir Questionnaire

5 What are the AMBER partners working on lately? Check out their progress The Stanisław Sakowicz Inland Fisheries Institute WP1. Barrier inventory and atlas S. Sakowicz Inland Fisheries Institute have already delivered the dataset for 460 barriers gathered by SSIFI. Additionally, two large datasets were obtained from National Water Management Authority, Poland. The first dam inventory is dated on 2010, with over 16,000 barriers identified in Poland. The second, more recent, contains information about migration barriers higher than 0.7 m ( gov.pl/imap). The database includes dam location, river name, water body name, type of impoundment and fishpass presence. However, there are some important gaps in detail information, and there is an overlap between two databases. We are currently checking the data and gathering missing information to create the final input for European Barrier Atlas. WP2. Dams Impact Assessment We also currently collect fisheries and hydrological data from representative EU rivers and impoundments to statistically group fisheries data by community composition (Target Fish Communities) and relative species abundance. Expected abundance of ecological guilds will then be determined and used to assess deviations from reference baseline conditions (such as we have done for Poland), that can then be used to guide and improve dam management towards river restoration.

6 S. Sakowicz Inland Fisheries Institute is currently focusing on developing methodology for assessment of impact of barriers on instream habitats. For this purpose we adapt several high-end techniques for data collection and analysis aiming to create technological procedures allowing for quick and effective surveys of many dams. We work on incorporating drone technology for habitat surveys on small and large rivers. We develop software, assemble high-end data collection devices and simplify sampling schemes. Our tests are conducted on Wisła, Biebrza, Jegrznia and Jeziorka rivers with various circumstances and dam issues. The systematic surveys will begin in summer of this year, as soon as technology is tested and verified. The collected data will provide an input into MesoHABSIM habitat simulation model, to assess how habitats of the fish community will be affected. WP4. The Vistula River case study The Vistula Rivers is one of the last large European rivers that preserved close to natural character. The Włocławek dam is located on lower Vistula River (km ), Central Poland. The dam, constructed in 1970, creates a large dam reservoir, of 70,4 km2 surface area. It was equipped with a technical step-pool fishpass, however the efficiency of this fishway was poor. Construction of the Włocławek dam had crucial impact on migratory fish species, as far as the dam cuts off majority of Vistula River catchment, with main historical spawning grounds for sea trout, Atlantic salmon, vimba and sturgeon. Populations of sea trout and vimba declined seriously after dam construction, while sturgeon and Atlantic salmon were extinct in Vistula river catchment. Also local fish populations significantly changed due to lack of riverine habitats within the reservoir. Since 1990-ies the migratory fish restitution programme was introduced in Poland, including stocking with sea trout, vimba, salmon and recently also sturgeon, but the lack of Vistula River connectivity was still the main problem to be solved. The fishpass at Włocławek dam was recently (2014) reconstructed into vertical slot type.

7 First efficiency studies done in proved its suitability for migratory fish species (sea trout and vimba). The ecological effects of Włocławek fishway as well as potential consequences of newly planned dam downstream of Włocławek are now studied and modelled within the AMBER project as a case study. Fish telemetry and monitoring with automatic fish counter (Riverwatcher, Vaki) are used. Tools developed by AMBER will be applied as decision support for management of the middle Vistula River stretch, as crucial for migratory fish restoration in whole catchment. View more videos on:

8 The Swansea University Recently, they advertised for the posts of post-doctoral Ecological modeller and Molecular Ecologist, as well as a research technician. These roles will support Luca Borger s work on data analysis using barrier data and pan-european WFD data as well as Sonia Consuegra s and Carlos Garcia de Leaniz s work on edna and fish behaviour studies. The University of Oviedo The University of Oviedo, Spain, has been working on the detection of native and invasive fish and invertebrate species through environmental DNA, and use the sequences obtained from edna to determine population connectivity, as part of AMBER Work Package 2. Recently, they have developed a new powerful, very sensitive and economical tool that can be applied for monitoring the presence of salmonids in a variety of situations, from checking upstream colonization after removal of river barriers to monitoring potential escapes from fish farms. A report and a divulgative article will be published in June Politecnico di Milano During the last months POLIMI, together with JRC, WFMF and CNSS and with the collaboration of all the AMBER consortium, has worked on: - building the structure of the Amber AT- LAS - collecting existing databases from European countries - developing and testing the strategy for the field validation of collected data from existing databases The results will be available by the end of May 2017.

9 The University of Southampton The University of Southampton has been testing various equipment in preparation for tracking the movement of lampreys on the River Derwent take will take place later this year, in collaboration with the Durham University. In addition the University has been planning work in collaboration with the Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) to generate fish passability scores via an automated process by analysing a large amount of data that IFI have collected at several hundred sites in recent years. This will enable the University of Southampton to better investigate the potential impact of barriers in various catchments in Ireland as well as to help to critically assess some of the current assessment protocols. Progress has been made as well on the understanding of the behavioural response of aquatic organisms to hydrodynamic conditions common and river infrastructure. Such work will help better understand ways to mitigate for the impact of barriers on the free movement of a range of species.

10 Upcoming events Would you like to stay up to date about the AMBER project and read about river connectivity, barrier management, events, project updates and guest articles? Sign up for the newsletter on social media: This project has received funding from the European Union s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No Copyright 2017 World Fish Migration Foundation, All rights reserved.