Event Title

Session B4- Studies on fish passage at ltaipu Dam

Location

UMass Amherst

Start Date

28-6-2011 11:00 AM

End Date

28-6-2011 11:20 AM

Description

The Piracema Canal is a 10.3 km long fishway with a total elevation gain of 120m. It is located at the Itaipu Dam, on the Parana River between Brazil and Paraguay. The Canal comprises a natural stream, the Bela Vista River (6.8 km long) and an artificial subsystem (technical reaches and lakes; last 3.5 km). Most of the migratory species caught below the Itaipu Dam were captured in the Bela Vista River, some in high abundance. Studies conducted with different fishing gears indicate that few individuals reach the upper end of the system, with rates estimated at 0.5% (using gillnets), 1.6% (radiotelemetry) and 18.4% (PIT -tag telemetry). This range of results may be attributed to methodological variations, or to different periods in which these studies were conducted. The segment called Drainage Channel (200m long, 6% slope and turbulent) represents the transition from the natural to the artificial subsystem; this section appears to act as a barrier to fish passage, conferring selectivity to the system. Tagged fish below the Drainage Channel took on average 10 days longer to reach the end of the system than the tagged fish just above this segment. The long time span taken by migratory fish to ascend suggests that they may be using the system mainly for dispersal, but all individuals have potential to spawn in the next reproductive season, because earlier studies clearly demonstrate that they can find the spawning places located upstream Itaipu Reservoir. Therefore, the Piracema Canal contributes to the biodiversity conservation of potamodromous fish in the last lotic stretch of the Parana River inside the Brazilian territory.

Comments

HéIio Martins Fontes Junior is a senior biologist in the Superintendence of the Environment of Itaipu Binacional. He obtained his degree in Biological Sciences by São Paulo University in 1982. He works at Itaipu hydroelectric power plant since 1987 where he worked in the fauna and flora department and since 1996 acts in the area of aquatic ecosystems. He is currently a doctoral student in ecology of freshwater ecosystems in the State University of Maringá.His research interests include fish passage (nature like), ecology of reservoirs and freshwater ecosystems.

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Jun 28th, 11:00 AM Jun 28th, 11:20 AM

Session B4- Studies on fish passage at ltaipu Dam

UMass Amherst

The Piracema Canal is a 10.3 km long fishway with a total elevation gain of 120m. It is located at the Itaipu Dam, on the Parana River between Brazil and Paraguay. The Canal comprises a natural stream, the Bela Vista River (6.8 km long) and an artificial subsystem (technical reaches and lakes; last 3.5 km). Most of the migratory species caught below the Itaipu Dam were captured in the Bela Vista River, some in high abundance. Studies conducted with different fishing gears indicate that few individuals reach the upper end of the system, with rates estimated at 0.5% (using gillnets), 1.6% (radiotelemetry) and 18.4% (PIT -tag telemetry). This range of results may be attributed to methodological variations, or to different periods in which these studies were conducted. The segment called Drainage Channel (200m long, 6% slope and turbulent) represents the transition from the natural to the artificial subsystem; this section appears to act as a barrier to fish passage, conferring selectivity to the system. Tagged fish below the Drainage Channel took on average 10 days longer to reach the end of the system than the tagged fish just above this segment. The long time span taken by migratory fish to ascend suggests that they may be using the system mainly for dispersal, but all individuals have potential to spawn in the next reproductive season, because earlier studies clearly demonstrate that they can find the spawning places located upstream Itaipu Reservoir. Therefore, the Piracema Canal contributes to the biodiversity conservation of potamodromous fish in the last lotic stretch of the Parana River inside the Brazilian territory.