Author
Thomas Trancart
Nils Teichert
Jézabel Lamoureux
Elouana Gharnit
Anthony Acou
Eric de Oliveira
Romain Roy
Year of Publication
2022

Journal

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
Volume
278
Date Published
Jan-11-2022
Number of Pages
108116
DOI
10.1016/j.ecss.2022.108116
URL
https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0272771422003742
ISSN Number
02727714
HCERES category
ACL - Articles in international or national peer-reviewed journals indexed by HCERES or in international databases
Abstract

Very few&nbsp;tidal power&nbsp;plants exist in the world. The first one was built in the Rance&nbsp;estuary&nbsp;(Brittany, France) in 1966 and the second one in South Korea. However, with the increasing demand in renewable energy, other tidal power plant projects are being studied.<br>
<br>
These power plants are larger than unidirectional fluvial hydropower plants and strongly modify the natural&nbsp;tidal cycle&nbsp;in estuarine systems. As such, their effect on megafaunal movements might strongly differ from those caused by unidirectional fluvial hydropower plants and should be specifically considered and studied before the development of similar constructions.<br>
<br>
In this study, an acoustic&nbsp;telemetry&nbsp;array was deployed to track 25 silver eels released 16&nbsp;km upstream of the Rance tidal power dam. Only 1/3 of the tagged eels passed the dam and reached the sea. Data suggested that eels interrupted their migration up to 5&nbsp;km upstream of the dam. We assume that the noise and tidal disturbance generated by the dam could lead to a disruption of a high proportion of silver eels’ reproductive migration.