PNNL

Abstract

The flow of the Snake River downstream of Hells Canyon Dam, Idaho, frequently fluctuates as the dam responds to power production requirements. These flow fluctuations have the potential to increase the energy used by individual juvenile white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) that move to avoid unfavorable habitat or that alter their swimming speeds to maintain position over a range of velocities. Following swimming respirometry experiments, a field study using electromyogram (EMG) and sonic telemetry evaluated whether sturgeon were being negatively affected by operations of Hells Canyon Dam during three study periods where flows were artificially fluctuated (247 to 856 m3/s), held high and stable (438 to 600 m3/s), or held low and stable (275 to 284 m3/s). Respirometry results confirmed that oxygen consumption of juvenile sturgeon increased with swim speed and was temperature dependent, and when corrected for fish mass, ranged from 140.2 to 306.5 mg O2 kg-1 h-1. The telemetry study showed that movements and activity levels, as measured by swimming speeds and oxygen consumption, of sturgeon were variable among fish and across study periods. When flows were held low and stable, sturgeon movement increased while activity levels decreased when compared to the study periods when flows were variable or were high and stable. Although the overall trend was for activity levels to be less during the study period when flows were low and stable, the majority of differences between study periods appeared to be due to differences in water temperature and light levels that changed during the three-month investigation. The results suggest high flows, even those of relatively short durations such as what occurs during load-following operations, restrict the movement of juvenile sturgeon, but do not result in an increase of energy expenditure, possibly because of morphological and behavioral adaptations to living in a high-velocity environment. This may have significant implications to sturgeon survival by altering foraging behavior or inter and intra-specific competition.