A possible strong impact of tidal power plant on silver eels' migration

• Published in: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
• Main Authors: Trancart, Thomas, Teichert, Nils, Lamoureux, Jézabel, Gharnit, Elouana, Acou, Anthony, de Oliveira, Eric, Roy, Romain, Feunteun, Eric
• Other Authors: Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA), Station marine Dinard, Centre De Recherche et d'Enseignement sur les Systèmes Côtiers (CRESCO), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Patrimoine naturel (PatriNat), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Office français de la biodiversité (OFB), Laboratoire National d’Hydraulique et Environnement (EDF R&D LNHE), EDF R&D (EDF R&D), EDF (EDF)-EDF (EDF)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: Anguilla Anguilla; Escapement; Conservation policy; Acoustic telemetry; Hydropower plant; Turbines; Tidal power plant; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; [SDV.BA.ZV]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology/Vertebrate Zoology; Anguilla anguilla
• Online Access: https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-03887351; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-03887351/document; https://hal.sorbonne-universite.fr/hal-03887351/file/The%20silver%20eel%20migration%20in%20a%20tidal%20dam_R1_unmark.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2022.108116

International audience Very few tidal power plants exist in the world. The first one was built in the Rance estuary (Brittany, France) in 1966 and the second one in South Korea. However, with the increasing demand in renewable energy, other tidal power plant projects are being studied. These power plants are larger than unidirectional fluvial hydropower plants and strongly modify the natural tidal cycle in estuarine systems. As such, their effect on megafaunal movements might strongly differ from those caused by unidirectional fluvial hydropower plants and should be specifically considered and studied before the development of similar constructions. In this study, an acoustic telemetry array was deployed to track 25 silver eels released 16 km upstream of the Rance tidal power dam. Only 1/3 of the tagged eels passed the dam and reached the sea. Data suggested that eels interrupted their migration up to 5 km upstream of the dam. We assume that the noise and tidal disturbance generated by the dam could lead to a disruption of a high proportion of silver eels' reproductive migration.