TY - JOUR
T1 - Tolerable ranges of fluid shear for early life-stage fishes
T2 - Implications for safe fish passage at hydropower and irrigation infrastructure
AU - Navarro, Anna
AU - Boys, Craig A.
AU - Robinson, Wayne
AU - Baumgartner, Lee J.
AU - Miller, Brett
AU - Deng, Zhiqun D.
AU - Finlayson, C. Max
PY - 2019/6/21
Y1 - 2019/6/21
N2 - Egg and larval fish drifting downstream are likely to encounter river infrastructure leading to mortality. Elevated fluid shear is one likely cause. To confirm this and determine tolerable strain rates resulting from fluid shear, egg and larvae of three Australian species were exposed to a high-velocity, submerged jet in a laboratory flume. Mortality was modelled over a broad range of strain rates, allowing critical thresholds to be estimated. Eggs were very susceptible to mortality at low strain rates and 100% of golden and silver perch died once strain rate exceeded 629 and 148 s-1 respectively. Larvae were less vulnerable than eggs, but mortality increased at higher strain rates and at younger ages. Most ages of larvae will be protected if strain rate does not exceed 600 s-1, although a lower guideline of less than 400 s-1 may be needed in areas where very early stage Murray cod larvae drift. Golden perch and silver perch were not susceptible to shear once maturity reached ∼25 days post-hatch (nearing juvenile metamorphosis). The thresholds described here will prove useful when refining design and operational guidelines for hydropower and irrigation infrastructure to improve fish survival.
AB - Egg and larval fish drifting downstream are likely to encounter river infrastructure leading to mortality. Elevated fluid shear is one likely cause. To confirm this and determine tolerable strain rates resulting from fluid shear, egg and larvae of three Australian species were exposed to a high-velocity, submerged jet in a laboratory flume. Mortality was modelled over a broad range of strain rates, allowing critical thresholds to be estimated. Eggs were very susceptible to mortality at low strain rates and 100% of golden and silver perch died once strain rate exceeded 629 and 148 s-1 respectively. Larvae were less vulnerable than eggs, but mortality increased at higher strain rates and at younger ages. Most ages of larvae will be protected if strain rate does not exceed 600 s-1, although a lower guideline of less than 400 s-1 may be needed in areas where very early stage Murray cod larvae drift. Golden perch and silver perch were not susceptible to shear once maturity reached ∼25 days post-hatch (nearing juvenile metamorphosis). The thresholds described here will prove useful when refining design and operational guidelines for hydropower and irrigation infrastructure to improve fish survival.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85067862246&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85067862246&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1071/MF18131
DO - 10.1071/MF18131
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85067862246
VL - 70
SP - 1503
EP - 1512
JO - Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research
JF - Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research
SN - 0067-1940
IS - 11
ER -