Thesis Work - Site-Specific Tube Fishway for Juvenile Eel Migration

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As part of Sweden’s ongoing efforts to reduce the environmental impact of hydropower and improve river connectivity, Vattenfall is developing and investigating measures to restore river connectivity for migratory fish species, including the critically endangered European eel (Anguilla anguilla). During their upstream migration, juvenile eels (elvers) frequently encounter barriers such as dams and hydropower plants.

Trap-and-transport methods can help them bypass these obstacles by capturing elvers downstream and relocating them to suitable upstream habitats, but the approach is labour-intensive and can cause stress due to repeated handling. To address this challenge, Vattenfall R&D has investigated adapting the tube fishway concept to automatically transfer elvers from a collection chamber through a closed conduit system into a transport tank.

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