Location
Groningen, The Netherlands
Event Website
http://fishpassage.umass.edu
Start Date
24-6-2015 8:50 AM
End Date
24-6-2015 9:35 AM
Description
Abstract: South America, the most fluvial continent, is increasingly been impacted by river damming having dams construction expanded in last 50 years and fragmenting more than 3,000 km. At present, the upper Parana basin exhibits 130 dams higher than 10 m, but most of future planned dams will be located along the Amazon watershed. Although increasing attention and research efforts have been devoted to assess functioning of fish passage in South America, objectives and support for installation can differ among basins according to river ecological characteristics, conservation goals, fisheries demands, etc. A noticeable asymmetry still exists between salmonids and non-salmonids fish passages in terms of information, research funds availability, human resources, availability of technological tools, etc. Whereas South American passes have shown a wide efficacy range, efficiency appears to be rather low for most of large migratory species challenging managers and scientists for considering how fragmentation effects on migratory fish population can be mitigated. Clearly non-salmonid fishways need to be designed to accommodate different life history traits exhibited by neotropical fishes inhabit rivers with different hydrological and geomorphological characteristics. Questions about how principles and rules derived from salmonid passages apply and what efficiency should mean and is required in South American large rivers remain still under debate as fish adaptation to cope with river fragmentation impacts may differ among basins based on hydrological and geomorphological features and dams/reservoirs characteristics. Managers and scientists face with the need to assess the feasibility of installing fish passages within a broader context that incorporate fish conservation issues according to current and predicted ecological characteristics and socio-economic scenarios at basin scale.
Plenary Speaker: Conciliating fish ecology and river fragmentation in South American large rivers: Are fish passages appropriate tools?
Groningen, The Netherlands
Abstract: South America, the most fluvial continent, is increasingly been impacted by river damming having dams construction expanded in last 50 years and fragmenting more than 3,000 km. At present, the upper Parana basin exhibits 130 dams higher than 10 m, but most of future planned dams will be located along the Amazon watershed. Although increasing attention and research efforts have been devoted to assess functioning of fish passage in South America, objectives and support for installation can differ among basins according to river ecological characteristics, conservation goals, fisheries demands, etc. A noticeable asymmetry still exists between salmonids and non-salmonids fish passages in terms of information, research funds availability, human resources, availability of technological tools, etc. Whereas South American passes have shown a wide efficacy range, efficiency appears to be rather low for most of large migratory species challenging managers and scientists for considering how fragmentation effects on migratory fish population can be mitigated. Clearly non-salmonid fishways need to be designed to accommodate different life history traits exhibited by neotropical fishes inhabit rivers with different hydrological and geomorphological characteristics. Questions about how principles and rules derived from salmonid passages apply and what efficiency should mean and is required in South American large rivers remain still under debate as fish adaptation to cope with river fragmentation impacts may differ among basins based on hydrological and geomorphological features and dams/reservoirs characteristics. Managers and scientists face with the need to assess the feasibility of installing fish passages within a broader context that incorporate fish conservation issues according to current and predicted ecological characteristics and socio-economic scenarios at basin scale.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/fishpassage_conference/2015/June24/1
Comments
Presenter Bio: Dr Claudio Baigún is a fisheries biologist who earned a fisheries masters degree at Oregon State University (USA) and a PhD at the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina). Currently he has a research position at the Technological Institute of Chascomus (CONICET) leading the Laboratory of Fisheries Ecology and holds also the position of Program Coordinator of Fish and Fisheries Program at Wetlands International (Latin America and the Caribbean Office). His study areas have covered lake ecology and fisheries, dam impacts and fish passage performances in hydroelectric and irrigation dams in Argentina and the assessment of neotropical fisheries in large rivers oriented to develop an Ecosystem Approach. During Dr. Baigún’s career he has also coordinated education of fishermen and managers on good fishing practices and the need to manage artisan fisheries within a participatory governance framework. Dr. Baigún has an exceptional CV, with publications in over 50 peer-reviewed journals, contributions to over 20 book chapters, and presentations at hundreds of conferences worldwide.