Screening for juvenile lamprey

 

In recent years there has been increasing recognition of the risk of entrainment of juvenile freshwater fish into water intakes during the fish’s downstream dispersal phases. Although fish screens may be present at an intake, these are often designed primarily to prevent the entrainment of salmon smolts which differ in swimming ability and behaviour to other species, such as downstream migrant juvenile lamprey.

Prof Paul Kemp from ICER in collaboration with Dr Martyn Lucas (University of Durham) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) assessed the impact of a Scottish hydropower project on lamprey. Stanley Mills is a small scale run-of-river hydroelectric station which is fed from the river Tay. Concern exists as to whether this scheme impacts the three (sea, river and brook) lamprey species which qualify the area as a Site of Special Scientific Interest within the River Tay Special Area of Conservation.

 

People:

Prof Paul Kemp

Dr Martyn Lucas