Restoration and Conservation of Fish Migration in the Lower and Middle Yangtze River Basin: Pilot Project Wu River

摘要

The Yangtze River Basin is abundant in freshwater fish resources. Damming of the river and it's tributaries for flood control and power generation brings huge benefits. At the same time it poses a large threat to fish species and populations. In cooperation between Chinese and Dutch partners a pilot study has been conducted in a large tributary in the upper Yangtze, the Wu River. The aim of this project was to enable fish migration at the Pengshui Dam in this river and to gain insight into the problems and possibilities of creating fish passage facilities at high dams in the Yangtze River Basin. In the study, a three step method is chosen for the realisation of solutions at migration barriers. A description of the problem is given in terms of features and site specific conditions, river zone and migrating fish species present. An inventory was made of possible solutions for fish migration at the Pengshui site. Then these possible solutions were ranked according to their scores on different criteria important for successful migration of fish. Finally the solutions were ranked by adding weighing factors with regard to their importance as established by an international group of specialists and stake holders.