2 research outputs found
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Session B8: Swimming Behaviour of Beluga and Stellate Sturgeons During Their Migration in the Lower Danube River
Abstract:
The Lower Danube River (LDR) still supports three naturally self-sustaining species of anadromous sturgeons. Beluga sturgeons (Huso huso) and stellate sturgeons (A. stellatus) are still common while Russian sturgeons (Acipenser gueldenstaedti) became very rare. Studying their swimming behaviour is essential for understanding (i) the impact of construction works aiming to improve conditions for navigation; (ii) sturgeon behaviour in relation to Iron Gate hydropower and navigation systems; (iii) behaviour of young sturgeons during downstream migration towards the Black Sea. A significant number of wild adult sturgeons (N= 103; 39 beluga, 1 Russian and 63 stellate) was implanted with acoustic transmitters, with depth and temperature sensors, and their movements were tracked using arrays of submerged automatic receivers installed in the LDR (R Km 60 – 863) during 2009 – 2014. For some of these fish additional swimming depth data were obtained by manual tracking. Wild born young of the year (YOY) beluga sturgeons (N=27) were captured in the LDR (R Km 123), implanted with acoustic transmitters and released during routine monitoring (June 2010). YOY beluga sturgeons of hatchery origin (N=33) were implanted with acoustic transmitters and stocked in the LDR at R Km 300 and R Km 102 (August 2010). Their movements were tracked and recorded by arrays of submerged acoustic receivers installed on the main Danube (R Km 101) and the three branches of the delta. This paper analyses for the first time on the LDR consistent data (over 70,000 recordings) on swimming speed (upstream and downstream) and swimming depth behaviour of adult sturgeons (beluga and stellate), during spring and autumn migration season, and YOY beluga sturgeons of wild and hatchery origin
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Session E6: Monitoring Strategy of Sturgeon Behaviour to Ensure Functionality of Future Fish Passes: The Iron Gate II Case in the Danube River
Abstract:
Preliminary study on sturgeon behaviour funded by the Dutch Partners for Water Programme and the ICPDR Secretariat (2014) has proven that beluga and stellate sturgeons still arrive at Iron Gate 2 dams (Danube R Km 862.8). High water current and impossibility to access Serbian reach of the Danube in the tailrace of Iron Gate 2 HEP (330 m wide) has prevented us from conducting triangulation with the mobile receiver to detect position of the sites where the beluga sturgeon male tended to congregate.
The preparatory project funded by the European Investment Bank Luxemburg (2014 - 2015) has adopted a monitoring strategy to achieve the required resolution to positioning the fish pass entrance(s). The strategy is based on four components: (i) detailed 3D bathymetry of the bottom of the river in the area of the tailrace in Romanian and Serbian territorial waters, (ii) water flow velocity profiles recorded at intervals of 100 m, (iii) combined acoustic and radio telemetry tests to achieve the required resolution needed to determine preferred positions in the river of adult sturgeons arriving downstream the dam, and (iv) integration of behavioural data with genetic analysis to distinguish phylogeny of tagged sturgeons in relation to migration seasons and known population segments.
Telemetry tests at Iron Gate 2 dams will be conducted by teams from Romania and Serbia under the guidance of a Norwegian expert. Results of this preparatory project fill be incorporated in the planning of a three year large scale study of the behaviour of sturgeons and other migratory fish at Iron Gate dams and reservoirs