Efficiency of fish ladders for neotropical ichthyofauna

Abstract

The reproductive strategies of potamodromous fish of the Plata basin involve upstream migration and passive downstream movements of eggs and larvae for dozens of kilometres. At the end of the downstream movements, the fry need marginal lagoons or bays in order for their development to be successful. The construction of reservoirs, often in series, has interrupted the movements, and is perhaps the main factor in the decrease in the abundance of migratory fish in the basin. In an attempt to lessen the impact on the upstream migrations, fish passages (floodgates, elevators and mainly ladders) have been constructed and, despite limitations, they have functioned with relative success. Some studies show the continuity of the migration of individuals captured downstream and released into the reservoir. However, downstream migration of adult migratory species is made difficult by the fact that they are, in this phase, generally reophylic (live in running water) and occupy only the upper stretches of reservoirs (fluvial and transitional zones). It would be feasible only in short reservoirs and with a very short residence time. The fact that reservoirs present calm waters, more transparency and contain a large number of small fish could delay the passive drift of eggs and larvae, exposing them to intense predation and/or promoting their settling toward deeper water, where the conditions of oxygenation are generally critical. In the remote event that the larvae reach the dam, most of them cannot be attracted to ladders (elevators are conceived only for upstream movements) or driven away from the reservoir vicinities, in as much as they have passive movements and would therefore suffer great mortality if they passed through turbines or a spillway. In reservoirs with large free stretches upstream and endowed with ample natural floodplain areas, transposition can be an useful instrument in the maintenance of genetic heterogeneity since the number of transposed specimens does not compromise the stocks of the lower stretch. These limitations, connected to the strategy of neotropical fishes, make fish passages in most situations an inadequate instrument for preservational management.