Session A2 - Fish Migration Day

Free migration of fish is necessary to achieve healthy fish stocks. Several species, including salmon, sea trout, sturgeon and eel, migrate between the sea and rivers. These species are particularly threatened by barriers such as weirs, dams and sluices, built for water management, hydropower and land drainage. Water and nature managers in Europe have been improving the situation with fish passes and by-pass channels around barriers, to help fish on their journey. An essential aspect of working on fish passage issues is raising awareness and creating commitment within communities in the different river basins. By creating commitment on all levels of the communities and stakeholders measures can be carried out more efficiently and financial opportunity can be maximised. The Fish Migration Day is a new concept to achieve greater understanding and community involvement (including children and parents). The first Fish Migration Day was held on the 14th of May 2011. The event was organized by the Living North Sea Project, which is funded by the European Union. On more than 25 locations in 7 countries in the North Sea Region interested children and parents could learn about a variety of topics, including: different species of fish, fish passage solutions, water and nature management issues, fisheries, research, aquatic insects and could play the Eel Game (www.elyeel.eu). At the end of the day 5000 persons had visited the event and it turned out to be a big success. The idea is to organize a follow up worldwide in 2013/2014. The presentation will highlight the goals, activities and results of the Fish Migration Day and will give an insight in the plans for World Fish Migration Day in 2013/2014

Session E8: Fish Migration Possibilities in the Netherlands; State of the Art (Barriers, Solutions, Monitoring)

Abstract: Measures to restore fish migration is gaining a major boost in the Netherlands since the Water Framework Directive, Benelux Regulation and Eel Directive are operational. Water managers, responsible for a good ecological status, are working hard to reach free fish migration in their waters. Currently, 1.124 measures are realized at barriers like weirs, pumping stations, sluices and culverts. 2.745 barriers are identified. Since 2000, there is a strong development of measures and new techniques. These results are based on a study “The Netherlands living with Fish Migration”, that was started in 2008. Target of this study was the evaluation of the progress in approach of measures and to gather information on improvement of fish migration in the Netherlands. Within this project a database was created with the prioritized barriers and measures for fish migration. This data is supplied by the water managers. Every four years water managers are asked for an update and an evaluation is carried out. In this presentation the results are discussed, with focus on type of barrier, solutions and intensity of monitoring carried out by the water managers. Also an overview of planning, with respect to WFD targets, is given. A map is created of for migratory fish accessible inland waters in up- and downstream direction. Database and maps are good medium for exchanging knowledge between water managers and other stakeholders

Dam removal Europe: refuting myths and supporting professionals

The removal of dams and weirs has been happening for decades. Since the 90’s a few countries have increased this tendency. USA has already removed at least 1,300 dams. What very few people know is that in Europe there have been over 3,500 barriers demolished already. In some European countries, like France, Sweden, Spain, Finland and UK dams are mainly being removed due to existing legislation, safety and security, the need to reach a good ecological status of their rivers for the Water Frame Directive and/or economical reasons. However, the lack of awareness, knowledge, support by decision makers and funding for dam removal are generally bottlenecks and most of the times is the cause of many dam removal failures. In addition, the Renewable Energy Directive requires the EU countries to fulfil at least 20% of its total energy needs with renewables by 2020, and amongst these renewables is hydropower. All this makes dam removal projects tremendously difficult to those who are willing to start removing old and useless dams, and automatically makes dam removal an uncomfortable subject to bring up for politicians. Europe requires a shift towards adaptive management of stream barriers, one that maximizes benefits and minimizes impacts, one that keeps efficient dams and removes obsolete and abandoned dams. The goals of Dam Removal Europe (www.damremoval.eu) are to improve citizens’ awareness about removing dams and refute myths, create a reference community of professionals, experts and starters, who generates and shares knowledge about dam removal and putting dam removal on the agenda of policy makers, directors and managers

Dam removal Europe: refuting myths and supporting professionals

The removal of dams and weirs has been happening for decades. Since the 90’s a few countries have increased this tendency. USA has already removed at least 1,300 dams. What very few people know is that in Europe there have been over 3,500 barriers demolished already. In some European countries, like France, Sweden, Spain, Finland and UK dams are mainly being removed due to existing legislation, safety and security, the need to reach a good ecological status of their rivers for the Water Frame Directive and/or economical reasons. However, the lack of awareness, knowledge, support by decision makers and funding for dam removal are generally bottlenecks and most of the times is the cause of many dam removal failures. In addition, the Renewable Energy Directive requires the EU countries to fulfil at least 20% of its total energy needs with renewables by 2020, and amongst these renewables is hydropower. All this makes dam removal projects tremendously difficult to those who are willing to start removing old and useless dams, and automatically makes dam removal an uncomfortable subject to bring up for politicians. Europe requires a shift towards adaptive management of stream barriers, one that maximizes benefits and minimizes impacts, one that keeps efficient dams and removes obsolete and abandoned dams. The goals of Dam Removal Europe (www.damremoval.eu) are to improve citizens’ awareness about removing dams and refute myths, create a reference community of professionals, experts and starters, who generates and shares knowledge about dam removal and putting dam removal on the agenda of policy makers, directors and managers

The Living Planet Index (LPI) for migratory freshwater fish:Technical Report

Migratory freshwater fish (i.e. fish that use freshwater systems, either partly or exclusively) occur around the world and travel between critical habitats to complete their life cycle. They are disproportionately threatened compared to other fish groups but global trends in abun-dance, regional differences and drivers of patterns have not yet been comprehensively described. Using abundance information from the Living Planet Database, we found widespread declines between 1970 and 2016 in tropical and temperate areas and across all regions, all migration categories and all populations. Globally, migratory freshwater fish have declined by an average of 76%. Average declines have been more pronounced in Europe (-93%) and Latin America & Caribbean (-84%), and least in North America (-28%). The percentage of species represented was highest in the two temperate regions of Europe and North America (almost 50%). For the continents of Africa, Asia, Oceania, and South America, data was highly deficient, and we advise against making conclusions on the status of migratory freshwater SUMMARYfish in these areas. Potamodromous fish, have declined more than fish migrating between fresh and salt water on average (-83% vs -73%). Populations that are known to be affected by threats anywhere along their migration routes show an average decline of 94% while those not threatened at the population level have increased on av-erage. Habitat degradation, alteration, and loss accounted for around a half of threats to migratory fish, while over-exploitation accounted for around one-third. Protected, regulated and exploited populations decreased less than unmanaged ones, with the most often recorded actions being related to fisheries regulations, including fishing restrictions, no-take zones, fisheries closures, bycatch reductions and stocking (these were most com-mon in North America and Europe). Recorded reasons for observed increases tended to be mostly unknown or un-described, especially in tropical regions. This information is needed to assemble a more complete picture to assess how declines in migratory freshwater fishes could be reduced or reversed. Our findings confirm that migratory freshwater fish may be more threatened throughout their range than previously documented

Session C3- From Sea to Source

The last decade the problems concerning the well being of migratory fish has become one of the basic themes in Dutch water management. Some water managers are experienced on tackling fish migration and others are now starting up. Fish migration visions have been developed and different types of measures are implemented, monitored and evaluated. The Netherlands is especially famous for its huge amount of pumping stations. The damaging effect these pumping stations. The damaging effect these pumping stations have on fish has come under the attention of politicians just recently and is high on the agenda of policy makers. Especially the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive has given an enormous boost to restoring fish migration routes and the development of new (fish friendly) techniques. In 2009 the goals for this directive were set. Almost 2500 obstacles will be removed until 2027 following a from sea to source principle. It\u27s an ambitious goal and it asks for a strong coordination, cooperation on a regional basis and sufficient financial means. The oral presentation will give an overview on the Dutch experiences and learning points on tackling fish migration problems. It will headline the following topics: Experiences on tackling fish migration in the region of the Huze & Aa\u27s Regional Water Authority Setting the priorities for fish migration in the Netherlands (European Water Framework Directive and Eel Management plan) Examples of fish migration measures at pumping stations; The Living North Sea project; tackling river connectivity problems in the North Sea region; Introducing the worldwide Guidance on fish migration From sea to source ; www.vismigratie.nl ; a new dutch web page on fish migration. A map of fish migration measures and obstacles is presented. International network on fish migration on LINKEDin (http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1215847&trk=hb_side_g