Movement of three non‐salmonid fish species through a low‐gradient vertical‐slot fishway

Well‐designed fishways have assisted in restoring migrations and rehabilitating riverine fish species in all continents. The performance of fishways varies greatly with their type, design and operating regime, and with the species involved. Vertical‐slot fishways are widely used to overcome low‐level barriers, especially for non‐salmonids. Important issues remain in the design of fishways to meet performance and cost criteria, including the relationship between fishway bed gradient and the fish that ascend, and whether resting pools are needed. Models of species' movement patterns can inform fishway designers about likely fish response to various design options, and can lead to improved efficiency and effectiveness. Models of general movement patterns of three potamodromous non‐salmonid fishes in the Murray River, Australia, were developed from empirical data in a low‐gradient vertical‐slot fishway. The models integrate data on times of entry and exit, ascent rates, and whether fish continued to ascend during the night. These fish species did not favour resting pools. Ascent rates of fish ≥120 mm were more closely related to fish behaviour than to length; for a given fishway height, reducing bed slope by increasing the number of pools may slow the ascent of such fish, whereas enlarging pool volumes increases costs. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Body size,experience, and sex do matter: Multiyear study shows improved passage rates for alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) through small‐scale Denil and pool‐and‐weir fishways

Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) passage through 3 fishways was assessed during the 2013–2016 spawning runs in 3 rivers of the Isthmus of Chignecto, Canada. From April 24 to June 10, 5,423 alewife with a mean ± SD fork length of 227 ± 18 mm were tagged with passive integrated transponders. During their tagging year, approximately half of individuals (40% to 64%) went undetected whereas those detected used fishways from April 16 to July 8. Detected alewife were significantly longer than those undetected. Attraction rates to fishway entrances in 2015 and 2016 ranged from 85% to 98%. Annual fishway passage rates for pooled fish tagged that year and returnees, varied from 64% to 97% for 2 Denil style fishways. A pool‐and‐weir fishway that was dysfunctional (2013), repaired (2014), and replaced (2015–2016) yielded 0.5%, 25%, 60%, and 73% annual pooled passage rates, respectively. Larger individuals, previously tagged returnees, and males compared to females of a similar size had higher passage success suggesting some fishways may apply population‐level selective pressures. Alewife passage rates related to fishway style, design, and proper function, with greater passage for the 2 Denils than the pool‐and‐weir fishway in our study. Regular structural maintenance and fish passage reviews are essential management considerations to ensure fishway functioning and river connectivity. Replacement of a fishway with poor fish passage may be the best option to improve passage rates. Future research should address the effects of multiple anthropogenic instream obstructions, environmental variables, negative sublethal post‐tagging effects, and the importance of returnees on fish passage rates in fishways.     

USING AN EXPERIMENTAL IN SITU FISHWAY TO PROVIDE KEY DESIGN CRITERIA FOR LATERAL FISH PASSAGE IN TROPICAL RIVERS: A CASE STUDY FROM THE MEKONG RIVER,CENTRAL LAO PDR

Fish passage through an experimental vertical‐slot fishway was assessed at a floodplain regulator on the Mekong River in Central Laos between April and July 2009. Experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of fishway floor slope (1v:15h or 1v:7.5h) on fish passage success with a view to developing a series of optimal design criteria for the construction of vertical‐slot fishways at other barriers to fish passage in the Lower Mekong Basin. A total of 14 661 fish from 73 species were captured during the experiments. Catches were dominated by riverine (white) (n = 51; 69% of total) and floodplain (black) species (n = 15; 20%) which represented 19 families in total. The work demonstrated that fish were actively attempting upstream passage from the Mekong River to an adjacent floodplain and displayed strong migratory behaviour during river level rises. Migratory activity was greatest during sharp rises in water level but reduced substantially when river level fell. Fish community composition varied greatly among the two fishway floor slopes and the control group. More fish species were collected from control samples, but the most fish and species were collected when the fishway was configured on a moderate hydraulic slope (1v:15h). A range of size classes were also collected from control and moderate‐slope groups, but steeper‐gradient catches were dominated by larger fish. This study demonstrated that vertical‐slot fishways could provide passage for a biodiverse fish community where fish move laterally onto floodplains. The construction of fishways which consider the local fish ecology and hydrology may therefore represent a valuable management tool to help restore important movement pathways for tropical freshwater fish. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attraction and passage efficiency for salmonids and non-salmonids based on fishway: A meta-analysis approach

Globally, fishways perform better when the target fish species are salmonids rather than non-salmonids. In the past few decades, engineers and dam managers have attempted to identify an ideal fishway type that can fit all migratory orders. To determine a general rule for selecting fishway types, we classified all fish orders into two groups (salmonids and non-salmonids) and analyzed the effect of different fishway types (i.e., nature-like [NL], vertical slot [VS], pool and weir [PW], and denil [DL]) on upstream migration for both groups by conducting a meta-analysis based on data from 64 studies of 76 fishways. The fishway performance was presented in terms of attraction efficiency (AE) and passage efficiency (PE). The results of a random-effects model, including 257 and 299 estimates of AE and PE, respectively, showed fishway types only had a significant effect on AE for non-salmonids. Technical fishways had a higher AE than NL fishways for salmonids, but were not applicable to non-salmonids. The passage results of four fishway types indicated that the PW fishways exhibited the best performance for salmonids, but the poorest performance for non-salmonids. Only DL fishways had a PE of over 50% for non-salmonids, whereas all fishway types had that of over 60% for salmonids. Variations in the slope and length of VS fishways could significantly affect PE for both groups, however, the phenomenon for salmonids disappeared when merging all fishway types. Elevation changes had a significant effect only on the condition that salmonids passed through VS fishways. The results of this study play an important role in designing appropriate fishway types for different downstream fish fauna and can be better generalized by complementing quantitative evaluation studies of various fishways as much as possible.     

Hydraulic and turbulence structure of triangular labyrinth weir‐pool fishways

Detailed laboratory experiments were conducted to analyze and evaluate a new weir‐pool fishway design. The new design consisted of a series of one‐cycle, triangular labyrinth weirs that formed a weir‐pool fish passage. Hydraulic characteristics of flow over the proposed fishway were examined for three pool lengths and a wide range of discharges. It was found that the new design had superior discharge capacity over classical weir‐pool fishways in plunging flow regime. Spatial and point analyses of measured velocity data were carried out to understand turbulence structure and distribution of turbulent flow. The power dissipation per unit volume was calculated for different tests, and it varied nonlinearly with discharge. Based on the limiting criteria for energy dissipation rates of different fish species, the maximum operating discharge for different slopes was extracted for the proposed design. The model‐to‐prototype scaling analysis was performed based on the recommended scaling factor of three for prototype. It was found that the approach velocity of prototype increased by 12%, whereas the total discharge increased by more than five times. The contour plots of time‐averaged velocity indicated that the proposed fishways offered diversified flow fields without exceeding the maximum velocity above the standards recommended for weir‐pool fishways. To study the size, direction, and periodicity of turbulent eddies, magnitude of the most energetic eddy and dominant frequencies were extracted using power spectrum analysis. Quadrant analysis consistently showed that Reynolds shear stresses in ejection and sweep events became weaker as the pool length increased. The small region of strong ejection and sweep events evidenced a good resting place for fish migration, whereas the generated turbulence was large enough to attract fish species to use the passage.     

MULTISPECIES FISH PASSAGE BEHAVIOUR IN A VERTICAL SLOT FISHWAY ON THE RICHELIEU RIVER,QUEBEC, CANADA

A shift from target species to ecosystem restoration has generated interest in developing fishways that are capable of passing entire fish communities. Although a number of multispecies fishways now exist in North America, evaluations of these fishways are lacking. We used a passive integrated transponder antenna array to quantify passage success and passage duration of fish using a vertical slot fishway (85 m in length, 2.65 m elevation rise, 12 regular pools and 2 turning basins) at a low head dam on the Richelieu River in Quebec, Canada. Fourteen of the 18 tagged species re‐ascended the fishway, and passage efficiency was highly variable among species (range 25%–100%); however, it was >50% for five of the species well represented in this study (n > 10) (Atlantic salmon, channel catfish, smallmouth bass, walleye and white sucker). Passage duration was likewise highly variable both among and within species (e.g. 1.0–452.9 h for smallmouth bass, 2.4–237.5 h for shorthead redhorse). Although this fishway design was not uniformly successful in passing fish of all species, this study does reveal the species that have problems with ascent and provides an estimate on the time spent in the fishway that is an important component of passage delay. Such information could be used to inform future design refinements to facilitate passage of the entire assemblage with minimal delay. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hydropower Development,Riverine Connectivity,and Non‐sport Fish Species: criteria for Hydraulic Design of Fishways

Hydropower barriers are among the most conspicuous anthropogenic alterations to natural riverine connectivity, resulting in species‐specific effects linked to dispersal abilities, especially swimming performance. They may present a particular problem for small‐bodied ‘non‐sport fish’, such as those that characterize the freshwater communities of temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere. Recent studies have suggested that nature‐like fishways could ensure passage of diverse fish assemblages through hydropower barriers. Through experiments performed in a swim tunnel, we present, for the first time, fishway design criteria for two non‐sport species endemic to Chile, a country experiencing rapid hydropower development. In`cremental velocity tests showed that Cheirodon galusdae and juveniles of Basilichthys microlepidotus were capable of very similar standardized critical swimming speeds of 69.7 and 69.6 cm s^?1, respectively. When expressed in units of body lengths, C. galusdae was capable of very high critical speeds of 16.2 bl s^?1, whereas for B. microlepidotus, this was 7.6 bl s^?1. However, fixed velocity tests revealed that the swimming endurance of the latter species was slightly higher. Dimensionless analysis showed a clear relationship between fatigue time and fish Froude number, similar to that already described for subcarangiforms. Based on these results, we present fishway design curves indicating a transition from sustained to prolonged swimming at a fishway length of 15 m. Our results show that the swimming capacity of these species is well‐suited to the mean flow velocity field described for nature‐like fishways. However, more work is required to understand the effects of turbulence on the passage of non‐sport species. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

鱼道水力特性研究进展

综述竖缝式、池堰式和涵洞式、丹尼尔式及组合式鱼道水力特性的国内外研究进展;对比分析水流流态、流速场特征、流量与水深的关系、紊流特性及消能率等几方面对不同鱼道的水力特性的影响;得出了竖缝式鱼道中无量纲流量与相对水深之间呈线性关系的结论,列出了池堰式鱼道中流量与水深的关系式;指出鱼道中紊流的紊动能、紊流强度及紊流结构均会对鱼道水力特性、鱼类对栖息地的选择以及鱼类通行造成较大影响;展望鱼道未来研究重心会逐渐集中于鱼道内紊流特性及其数值模拟的研究,尤其是紊流结构的研究。此外,不同结构形式鱼道内水力条件对鱼类通行的影响及改善措施亦将成为未来研究热点之一。     

Numerical study of the effect of a V-shaped weir on turbulence characteristics and velocity in V-weir fishways

Fishways are used to allow fish to migrate around water infrastructure, whether movements are in the upstream or downstream direction. Hydrodynamic conditions within various fishways, including turbulence levels, are important for successful fish passage. A numerical hydrodynamic study was conducted for V-weir fishways, which assist species migrating upstream. The variables investigated included, fishway slopes of 4%, 7%, and 10%, relative spacing between weirs of 1.3, 2.6, and 4 (D/L, ratio of distance between weirs to pool width), and weir angles of 22.5°, 40°, and 60°. Turbulence characteristics, including turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), Reynolds shear stress (RSS), turbulent intensity (TI), turbulent dissipation (TD), as well as maximum water velocity, were examined by CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulation using a re-normalized group or RNG turbulence model. The CFD was calibrated with flow measurements made in a physical model of the V-weir fishway in laboratory control experiments. Based on inferences from fish passage literature, the results showed that, in the range of parameters studied, a weir angle of 22.5^°, a slope of 10% and relative spacing between weirs of 1.3 and 2.6 were assessed as offering the best potential performance for several species and sizes of fish, while the latter has lower cost as it requires fewer weirs. The V-weir fishway may be adaptable for smaller fish.     

Evaluation of nature‐like fishways for re‐establishing connectivity in fragmented salmonid populations in the River Emån

We evaluated the function of two nature‐like fishways for re‐establishing connectivity for anadromous salmonids in the regulated River Emån. Between 90 and 100% of the salmonids that entered the fishways actually passed through them, with median speeds of 180–190 m h^?1. Only 50% of the anadromous brown trout that passed the first fishway also passed the second one, indicating that the fish might have had problems locating the upstream fishway. The fishways were also observed to function as a passage for downstream post‐spawning migrants. The densities of brown trout yearlings upstream of the fishways were higher in 2002, after the fishways were built, than during pre‐fishway years. In control sites in other parts of the river as well as in a nearby river, no changes in yearling densities were observed. Thus, the fishways are working for upstream spawners, albeit at a recolonization rate that is slower than expected. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fishway passage and post‐passage mortality of up‐river migrating sockeye salmon in the Seton River,British Columbia

Adult sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) were studied to assess the consequences of a dam and vertical‐slot fishway on mortality during their spawning migration in the Seton–Anderson watershed, British Columbia, Canada. Since previous research suggests fishway passage may be difficult, our main hypothesis was that the dam and fishway have post‐passage consequences that affect subsequent behaviour and survival. Eighty‐seven sockeye were caught at the top of the fishway, implanted with an acoustic telemetry transmitter, non‐lethally biopsied to obtain a small blood sample and released either upstream or downstream of the dam. Indices of physiological stress (i.e. plasma cortisol, glucose, lactate and ions) indicated that fish were not stressed or exhausted after capture from the fishway, and were not unduly stressed by transportation to release sites or net‐pen holding. Of 59 fish released downstream of the dam, 14% did not reach the dam tailrace. Overall passage efficiency at the fishway was 80%. Mortality in two lakes upstream of the dam was greater in fish released downstream of the dam (27%) compared to fish released upstream of the dam (7%; p = 0.04) suggesting that dam passage has consequences that reduce subsequent survival. Cumulative mortality of fish released downstream of the dam (n = 55) resulted in only 49% survival to spawning areas, compared to 93% of fish released upstream of the dam (n = 28). Survival was significantly lower for females (40%) than for males (71%; p = 0.03), a finding that has implications for conservation because spawning success of sockeye salmon populations is governed primarily by females. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Do fish locks have potential in tropical rivers?

This study evaluated attraction and passage of native fish through an automated fish lock on the tropical Fitzroy River in north‐eastern Australia. In 69 samples (24 h each) taken at the exit and entrance of the fish lock, 17 fish species and 13 402 individuals were collected, at a maximum rate of 3317 fish per day. During low river flows, the fish lock transferred a broad size range of fish (35–710 mm long), though migratory biomass was small. Removal of a vertical fish‐crowding device did not affect the passage rate. Netting studies and observations of fish migrating below the weir suggested that the entrance was poorly located during high flows and another fishway near the spillway would enhance fish passage. The fish lock was inoperative for 48% of the time, due to mechanical and software failure, and a narrow operational range unsuited to the variable hydrology. Nevertheless, these design issues are site specific and reflect that fish lock technology is in its infancy in Australia. The operational reliability of the fish lock is now greatly improved but further work is needed to optimize the automatic cycling. To accommodate the inherently variable hydrology of lowland tropical/sub‐tropical rivers into fishway design, we highlight important research needs for fishways and migratory fish communities. Fish locks are often considered a less favourable fish passage option but with the operational reliability issues partially resolved, they appear to have considerable potential for tropical river systems with low minimum flows and low biomass; with further research and design, they may have wider application. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Not just a migration problem: Metapopulations,habitat shifts,and gene flow are also important for fishway science and management

Worldwide, fishways are increasingly criticized for failing to meet conservation goals. We argue that this is largely due to the dominance of diadromous species of the Northern Hemisphere (e.g., Salmonidae) in the research that underpins the concepts and methods of fishway science and management. With highly diverse life histories, swimming abilities and spatial ecologies, most freshwater fish species do not conform to the stereotype imposed by this framework. This is leading to a global proliferation of fishways that are often unsuitable for native species. The vast majority of fish populations do not undertake extensive migrations between clearly separated critical habitats, yet the movement of individuals and the genetic information they carry is critically important for population viability. We briefly review some of the latest advances in spatial ecological modelling for dendritic networks to better define what it means to achieve effective fish passage at a barrier. Through a combination of critical habitat assessment and the modelling of metapopulations, climate change‐driven habitat shifts, and adaptive gene flow, we recommend a conceptual and methodological framework for fishway target‐setting and monitoring suitable for a wide range of species. In the process, we raise a number of issues that should contribute to the ongoing debate about fish passage research and the design and monitoring of fishways.     

Connectivity is a two‐way street—the need for a holistic approach to fish passage problems in regulated rivers

We evaluated the effects of a rehabilitation project, whose goal was to re‐establish longitudinal connectivity for anadromous trout in the regulated river Emån. We used a holistic approach, by tagging and following both upstream‐migrating spawners (N = 348) and downstream‐migrating smolts (N = 80) and kelts as they passed two hydroelectric plants (HEP 2‐3) with nature‐like fishways. When migrating upstream, 84–88% of the spawners stopped, primarily at spawning grounds, before reaching HEP2. The proportion of stoppers was lower (56%) for fish that had been to the fishways in previous years, indicating that the recolonization rate is likely to increase over time. Of the spawners that approached the fishway at HEP2, 77% rapidly located the fishway situated next to the tail‐race, resulting in an attraction efficiency of 81% and a passage efficiency of 95%. The time required to locate the fishway inside the former channel at HEP3 was substantial, but the attraction efficiency (89%) and passage efficiency (97%) were nevertheless high. The kelts swam downstream mainly in spring, using spill gates and the fishways, to swim past HEP2 and 3 and continue downstream to the Baltic Sea. Iteroparity was confirmed by the fact that 20% of the spawners were tagged in previous years. Smolt loss was about 30% for both HEPs, with a higher turbine‐induced loss 30% for fish passing through Francis runners than a Kaplan runner. Fifteen per cent of the tagged smolt reached the sea and none of these fish had swum through the Francis runners. It will probably take many years before longitudinal connectivity is fully re‐established in the river Emån, due to substantial losses of both upstream‐migrating spawners (35% loss) and downstream‐migrating smolts (50%) and kelts. In addition, smolt production in areas upstream of HEP3 is far below carrying capacity. Thus, additional measures that not only facilitate movement of upstream spawners, but also reduce mortality and injuries of downstream migrants are urgently needed to create a self‐sustaining fish population. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Preferential behavior of Tribolodon hakonensis for fishways according to biological characteristics

In 2012, the fishway in the Miyanaka Intake Dam in Niigata Prefecture, Japan, was reconstructed and divided into three fishways (ice-harbor-, stair-, and rock-ramp-type) with different flow velocities and water depths. We conducted an adaptive monitoring survey in these fishways from 2012 to 2020, and 33 fish types were found, including migratory, swimming, small swimming, and benthic fishes. Many species displayed a preference for specific fishways. The run-up for Tribolodon hakonensis was studied to determine the effects of physical parameters such as body length, rush speed for instantaneous swimming, water temperature, and presence/absence of nuptial coloration on fishway preference. T. hakonensis with nuptial coloration had greater body length and higher rush speeds than those without it. They also preferred the ice-harbor fishway, whereas their shorter, uncolored counterparts preferred the stair and rock-ramp alternatives. The environmental conditions selected by T. hakonensis changed according to their growth stage, as did fishway preference. Changes in fishway environmental conditions may have influenced the observed differences in fishway populations. It was thus confirmed that developing fishways with different flow velocities and water depths is effective in supporting the various life stages of T. hakonensis.     

组合隔板式鱼道水力特性数值模拟研究

鱼道是为鱼类提供洄游通道的一种重要的工程措施。基于Flow-3D采用标准RNG k-ε紊流模型和Tru-VOF追踪自由液面方法,对鱼道池室内流场进行三维紊流数值模拟,研究池室内水流流速、流态空间分布,分析鱼道的水力特性对目标鱼类洄游上溯的影响。结果表明:溢流堰与竖缝组合隔板式鱼道在设计流速v=0.75 m/s条件下,竖缝处平均流速为0.83 m/s,竖缝处流速分布范围为0.76~0.89 m/s;堰上流速为0.90~1.12 m/s,回流区流速分布范围为0.09~0.25 m/s,流速大小在鱼类的克流能力范围之内,但靠竖缝隔板处存在明显的主流贴壁现象。为此开展了池室优化方案设计,使鱼道池室流态满足鱼类上溯要求。     

Turbulent flow field comparison and related suitability for fish passage of a standard and a simplified low‐gradient vertical slot fishway

Fishways are hydraulic structures that allow passage of fish across obstructions in rivers. Vertical slot fishways—VSFs—are considered the most efficient and least selective type of technical fishway solutions, especially due to their ability to remain effective even when significant upstream and/or downstream water level fluctuations occur. The scope of the present study is to perform numerical simulations in order to investigate and compare the hydraulic turbulent flow field in a standard and a simplified version of the most common VSF design. Implications in relation to fish swimming behaviour and fish passage performance are discussed. Different water depths (as well as discharges) were investigated, using a bed slope of 5%, as a reference for low‐gradient VSFs with a very limited selectivity that can be used in multispecies rivers in grayling‐barbel regions. Results show that maximum values of velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, and Reynolds stresses are higher in the standard design. However, corresponding to slot geometry and orientation, the direction of the main jet in the simplified design is more inclined towards the left side of the pool. This causes the eddy to split into 2 smaller ones; the minimum eddy dimension is reduced from 0.4–0.5 to 0.2–0.3 m. These dimensions are detrimental for fish passage efficiency, being more comparable with fish length (0.15–0.40 m), thus affecting migrating fish stability and orientation. Furthermore, the standard design provides a more straightforward upstream path and wider areas of low flow velocities and turbulence, useful for fish resting. Therefore, it is recommended that the standard design should be preferred over its simplified version, even if its construction costs are around 10–15% higher than the simplified one.     

Design of a bilateral-symmetric multi-slot fishway and its comparison with vertical slot fishway in terms of hydraulic properties

Aiming at improving the hydraulic properties and enhancing the fish passage efficiency, this study proposes a novel bilateral-symmetric multi-slot fishway (BMSF) by combining the structural features of a double-sided vertical-slot fishway, multi-slot fishway and T-shape fishway. Eight BMSF cases are further designed by adjusting the slot width and the distance between the short baffle and the front end of the central wall, in order to achieve the relatively best hydrodynamic characteristics. The flow fields of two vertical-slot fishways and eight BMSF fishways are obtained by numerically solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equation, the volume-of-fluid equation and the k-ω-SST turbulence model. Numerical results manifest that the recommended BMSF-8 provides the smallest values in terms of the maximum time-averaged velocity magnitude (1.42 m s⁻¹), the maximum time-averaged turbulent kinetic energy (0.132 m² s⁻²), the maximum time-averaged Reynolds shear stress component (44 Pa), the spatial-mean time-averaged velocity magnitude (0.58 m s⁻¹), and the spatial-mean time-averaged turbulent kinetic energy (0.042 m² s⁻²) in the middle pool at Q = 1000 L/s. Even for the depth-mean time-averaged velocity magnitude at the slot and the volume percentages of some critical physical quantities, BMSF-8 is also superior to the other cases. To sum up, BMSF-8 leads to the relatively lowest flow velocity and turbulence, being more suitable for the passage of the whole fish community (especially for small-sized fishes with weaker swimming ability). In addition, the generalizability of the aforementioned superiority of BMSF-8 is displayed by providing the numerical results of four operating conditions (i.e., Q = 600, 800, 1000 and 1200 L/s).     

Effects of water velocity and turbulence on the behaviour of Iberian barbel (Luciobarbus bocagei,Steindachner 1864) in an experimental pool‐type fishway

The restoration of fish passage has been focused on anadromous fish species, whilst studies accommodating passage of coarse species have often been considered incidental, yet frequently these are the predominant group of species encountered in rivers. In addition, fishway designs depend greatly on the interplay between hydraulics and biomechanics, yet very little data are available on the responses to specific hydraulic settings for these species. This study aims to explore the effects of water velocity and turbulence on the behaviour of a cyprinid species ‐ the Iberian barbel Luciobarbus bocagei (Steindachner, 1864) ‐ particularly their upstream movements upon different discharges (38.5 to 77.0 L · s^?1), through an indoor full scale pool‐type fishway prototype. Larger adults had a higher passage success (mean = 79%) and took less time (mean ± SD (min): 5.7 ± 1.3) to negotiate the entire six pool fishway, when compared to small adults. Correlation analysis between hydraulic variables and fish transit time yielded different results. Correlations were found to be the highest between the horizontal component of Reynolds shear stress and fish transit time, particularly for smaller size‐individuals (r = ?0.45; p < 0.001), highlighting this variable as a key‐parameter which strongly determines the movements of Iberian barbel. The present study identified key factors on Iberian barbel movements that may have direct application to future fishway designs for this species and for other ‘weak’ swimmers. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.