Are the current engineering solutions sufficient to save migrating fish?

It is no secret there is a strong debate between people who fear that building fishpassages are not enough to save fish populations, whilst others see it as the best we can do. A new paper by members of the AMBER consortium contributes to the debate by listing the main issues in this respect, as seen by practitioners. The authors put the discussion in context of modern society where the human interference in landscapes is significant. They question if the general practice of engineers making water infrastructures works is fit for designing structures that need to benefit water dominated ecosystems. Often a selected number of fish species are selected as reference for building solutions, whilst the effects of infrastructure are relevant for the total ecosystems around these species. Or engineered solutions do not reinstate the natural habitat and geomorphological properties of the river.

Arjan Berkhuysen
To find out more, please read the published paper.