Efficiency of a nature-like bypass channel for sea trout (Salmo trutta) ascending a small Danish stream studied by PIT telemetry

Abstract – Upstream passage of adult sea trout ( Salmo trutta ) in a nature-like bypass channel was investigated in the Tirsbæk brook, Denmark, in autumn and winter 1999/2000. Sea trout were caught by electrofishing up- and downstream of the weir at which the bypass was situated. Fish were tagged with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags and released downstream of the weir. Automatic PIT-tag logging stations were positioned downstream, in the lower part, and at the upstream exit of the bypass to investigate the passage success of the fish. The bypass was neither size- nor sex-selective in the size ranges investigated. The majority (68%) of fish approached the bypass at night. Over 90% of tagged upstream-searching fish located and entered the bypass channel, but only about half of them passed through. The inefficiency is suggested to be because of a combination of the length of the bypass channel and inadequate flow in the bypass channel.