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TESTS OF LOW-VOLTAGE DC FISH-GUIDANCE SYSTEMS TO
DIRECT DOWNSTREAM MIGRATING TRANSFORMED SEA LAMPREY INTO TRAPS
1USGS, Great Lakes Science Center,
Hammond Bay Biological Station, 11188 Ray Road, Millersburg, MI 49759
2USGS, Conte Anadromous Fish Research Branch, One Migratory
Way, Turners Falls, MA 01376
December 2015
ABSTRACT:
Use of non-physical stimuli can benefit both native species conservation and invasive species control efforts without impacting stream flow. Here we tested the efficiency of a vertically oriented electric field of pulsed direct current (pulsed DC) at guiding downstream moving juvenile Sea Lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) to a bypass channel in an artificial flume at water velocities ranging from 10 – 50 cm/sec. A significantly greater proportion of Sea Lampreys moved to the bypass channel relative to the rest of the flume at water velocities ≤25cm/sec regardless if the electric field was active or inactive. When the electric field was activated, the proportion of Sea Lampreys in the bypass channel did not significantly increase however a shift in distribution occurred laterally across the flume with more Sea Lamprey present toward the side of the flume with the bypass channel and fewer present toward the opposite side at water velocities ≤25cm/sec. In addition a decrease in transit time was observed when Sea Lamprey moved downstream toward the electric field when active. Taken together, juvenile Sea Lamprey exhibited a response to a pulsed DC electric field but the effectiveness of the field to influence their distribution in a flume diminished with increasing water velocity. Future research should investigate the ability of juvenile lamprey to detect electric fields and the specific behavioral responses to various electric field parameters to optimize the use of this technology as a non-physical guidance tool