Field experiment to test the effectiveness of LED lights for the behavioural guidance of imperiled American Eel during their downstream spawning migration

美洲鳗（Anguilla rostrata）在其大部分原生栖息地都面临危险，部分原因是在产卵前向海洋环境的下游迁徙过程中遇到水力发电基础设施而导致死亡。鳗鱼数量急剧下降，以至于被安大略省和世界自然保护联盟红色名录列为“濒危”物种。减少、避免或消除与涡轮机等潜在有害基础设施的物理接触已被确定为人口保护战略的关键组成部分，特别是当可以通过不会干扰水力发电的行为引导技术（即引导鱼类远离危险区域流向更安全的区域）来减少此类接触时。值得注意的是，人造光在使夜间迁徙的鳗鱼远离照明区域方面表现出了一定的前景，为将鳗鱼集中到安全通道或高效收集和运输创造了机会。然而，许多光导研究是在圈养的实验室环境下进行的，缺乏对现实世界应用的明显扩展潜力，或者依赖于现场部署以及下游鳗鱼的重新捕获以及对其运动模式和光场周围路径的推断确定。 我们与安大略发电公司 (OPG) 和魁北克水电公司 (HQ) 以及政府合作者合作进行了一项管理规模的研究，以评估光引导鳗鱼的有效性。 在 OPG 和 HQ 的资助下，两个浮动灯阵列（长度分别为 217m 和 120m）将安装在易洛魁水控制坝 (ON) 和博阿努瓦运河 (QC) 的 Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague 大桥上游的圣劳伦斯河上。 我们将正式评估和量化人造光的有效性，以实现对遇到水力发电基础设施的美国鳗鱼种群的管理和保护的指导结果。 该团队近十年来一直致力于试点和可行性研究，为这一独特的一次性机会做好准备，生成保护濒危鳗鱼所需的数据。

American eels (Anguilla rostrata) are imperilled throughout much of their native range due in part to mortalities resulting from encounters with hydroelectric infrastructure during downstream pre-spawning migrations towards marine environments. Population declines have been drastic enough that eels are listed as "Endangered" by the Province of Ontario and on the IUCN Red List. Reducing, avoiding, or eliminating physical encounters with potentially harmful infrastructure such as turbines have been identified as key components of population protection strategies, particularly when such encounters can be reduced via behavioural guidance technologies (i.e., guiding fish away from risky areas towards safer areas) that will not interfere with hydroelectric generation. Notably, artificial lights have demonstrated some promise at deflecting night-migrating eels away from illuminated fields, creating an opportunity to concentrate eels towards safe passageways or for efficient collection and transport. However, many light guidance studies have been conducted under captive, laboratory settings that lack obvious scaling potential to real-world applications or relied on field deployments coupled with downstream recaptures of eels and inferential determination of their movement patterns and pathways around light fields. We have partnered with Ontario Power Generation (OPG) and Hydro Quebec (HQ) as well as government collaborators to conduct a management-scale study to evaluate the effectiveness of light for guiding eels. With funding from OPG and HQ, two floating light arrays (217m and 120m length) will be installed in the St. Lawrence River immediately upstream of both the Iroquois Water Control Dam (ON) and the Saint-Louis-de-Gonzague Bridge in the Beauharnois Canal (QC). We will formally evaluate and quantify the effectiveness of artificial light at achieving guidance outcomes for the management and conservation of American eel populations encountering hydroelectric infrastructure. The team has been working on pilot and feasibility studies for nearly a decade in preparation for this unique, one-time opportunity to generate data needed to inform the protection of imperiled eels.