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The use of non-physical barriers, particularly based on acoustic and luminous stimuli has been historically used to influence the behavior of fish, mainly for fishing purposes. Nowadays, behavioral barriers and guidance systems have been developed, not only to deter movements of fish, but also to promote behavioral responses with the objective of native fish protection, in particular the potamodromous species, reducing their mortality in the hydraulic structures of dams and guiding them towards transposition systems or to replacement habitats in regularized water bodies. This review details the use of acoustic and luminous systems and their evolution in recent years (Scopus 2012–2019) for the development of selective behavioral barriers for fish. We found that recent technologies try to identify new acoustic and luminous sensory ranges. Ambient sound, sound of predators or luminous spectral bands with different wavelengths have been used to selectively stimulate target and non-target species, in order to improve the effectiveness of repulsive/attractive systems for fish. Guidelines for future research in the area are also present. This work is supported by National Funds by FCT—Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UIDB/04033/2020. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

A repulsive effect, that some induced primary stimuli, like sound and light, is known to be provoked in fish behavior. In the present study, two strobe light frequencies, 350 flashes/minute and 600 flashes/minute, were tested in laboratorial conditions, using three native freshwater fish species of northern Portugal: Brown trout (Salmo trutta), Northern straight-mouth nase (Pseudochondrostoma duriense) and Iberian barbel (Luciobarbus bocagei). The results showed a differential repulsive behavior of the fish species to light stimulus, and particularly to a frequency of 600 flashes/minute. S. trutta presented the most repulsive behavior, whereas the L. bocagei showed less repulsion to the light stimulus. No relevant differences were found between pre-test and post-assessments, confirming a rapid recovery of natural fish behavior after the deterrent effect. The results highlighted the potential of behavioral barriers, particularly in salmonid streams, based on strobe light stimulus. The project n 13737: Original Solutions—ENI and CITAB-UTAD was funded project: ANI/QREN/FEDER. European Investment Funds by FEDER/COMPETE/POCI—Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme, under Project POCI-01-0145- FEDER-006958 and National Funds by FCT— Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UID/AGR/04033/2013. Acknowledgments: The present study was technically supported by Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e Florestas (ICNF—Departamento Norte), namely the facilities at the fish farm “Posto Aquicola de Castrelos”, for the execution of the experimental design. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Many methods in freshwater biomonitoring tend to be restricted to a few levels of biological organization, limiting the potential spectrum of measurable of cause-effect responses to different anthropogenic impacts. We combined distinct organisational levels, covering biological biomarkers (histopathological and biochemical reactions in liver and fish gills), community based bioindicators (fish guilds, invertebrate metrics/traits and chironomid pupal exuviae) and ecosystem functional indicators (decomposition rates) to assess ecological status at designated Water Framework Directive monitoring sites, covering a gradient of human impact across several rivers in northern Portugal. We used Random Forest to rank the variables that contributed more significantly to successfully predict the different classes of ecological status and also to provide specific cut levels to discriminate each WFD class based on reference condition. A total of 59 Biological Quality Elements and functional indicators were determined using this procedure and subsequently applied to develop the integrated Multiple Ecological Level Index (MELI Index), a potentially powerful bioassessment tool.

This study focused on the use of sound playbacks as acoustic deterrents to direct native potamodromous migratory species away from all kind of traps. The effects of two acoustic treatments, a repeated sine sweep up to 2 kHz (sweep-up stimulus) and an intermittent 140 Hz tone, were tested in three fish species native to Iberia: Salmo trutta, Pseudochondrostoma duriense and Luciobarbus bocagei. In contrast with S. trutta, the endemic cyprinids P. duriense and L. bocagei exhibited a strong repulse reaction to the frequency sweep-up sound. The 140 Hz stimulus did not seem to alter significantly the behaviour of any of the studied species. These results highlight the potential of acoustic stimuli as fish behavioural barriers and their application to in situ conservation measures of native Iberian fish populations, to protect them from hydropower dams. In addition, this study shows that acoustic deterrents can be used selectively on target species. The project nº 13737: Original Solutions - ENI and CITAB-UTAD was funded project: ANI/QREN/FEDER. The Science and Technology Foundation, Portugal funded M.C.P.A. (strategic projects UID/MAR/04292/2013 granted to MARE) and P.J.F. (UID/BIA/00329/2013 granted to cE3c). The scientific plan was achieved under European Investment Funds by FEDER/COMPETE/POCI– Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme, under Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006958 and National Funds by FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UID/AGR/04033. The present study was technically supported by Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e Florestas (ICNF – Delegação Norte), namely the facilities at the fish farm “Estação Aquicola de Castrelos”, info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion